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AN ELEMENTARY 
COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



AN ELEMENTARY 

COMMERCIAL 
GEOGRAPHY 

BY 

CYRUS C. ADAMS 

AUTHOR OF A TEXT-BOOK OF COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



" I am persuaded that whatever facili- 
tates intercourse between the different 
portions of the human family will have 
the effect, under the guidance of sound 
moral principles, to promote the best 
interests of man."— S. F. B, Morse. 




NEW YORK 
APPLETON AND COMPANY 



>7:\ 






Copyright, 1902, 1908, 1910, 1919, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



APR 16 1:^19 
A515247 



l-x^? 



PREFACE 



The approval given ' to A Text-Booh of Commercial 

Geogi'apliy by many te-achers who are using it in their 
classes has encouraged the preparation of this smaller book 
which, it is hoped, will meet the needs of a large number 
of students who complete their school drill in the grammar 
grades. The author has attempted to give, simply and 
broadly, a view of the world in its relation to man as a pro- 
ducer and a trader. The aim, kept constantly in view, has 
been to deduce from the concrete the natural laws of trade, 
to avoid most minutiae, and to exclude many subtopics that 
are adapted for treatment only in a more extended course 
of study. 

Particular emphasis has been given, throughout the 
book, to improved transportation, the application of steam- 
power to manifold forms of machinery, and the progress in 
chemical science as the main factors in the present devel- 
opment of commerce and industries. It has also been 
thought useful to call special attention to the great trade 
routes that are followed by those commodities which are 
most prominent in international commerce. 

The chapters on the United States have been length- 
ened by the fact that all the natural products included in 
the book, with a very few exceptions, because of their inti- 
mate connection with our industries and trade, have been 
treated in these chapters. The effort has been made to show 
clearly, and as fully as space permitted, the nature, distribu- 
tion, and uses of these products and the commerce in them. 



Vi ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

In the chapters given to foreign countries, the special 
aim has oeen to present and emphasize only their broadest 
aspects — their resources, what they have to sell, what they 
need to buy, their commercial facilities, and their trade 
relations with the United States ; in other words, to fix in 
the mind of the student only the larger facts, including the 
intellectual, moral, and material conditions of the inhabit- 
ants, which determine the place and importance of these 
countries among trading nations. 

The maps and other illustrations have been selected 
with a view to illuminating the text and imparting infor- 
mation that could not otherwise be so clearly conveyed. 

Nearly all the statistics are tabulated at the end of the 
volume. It is suggested that teachers make constant use 
of these tables wherever they apply to the work of the 
class room. 

Dr. Francis E. Lane, Director of High Schools, "Wash- 
ington, D. C, has given invaluable assistance throughout 
the book in matters of order, arrangement, and treatment. 
The author is most desirous to acknowledge his great in- 
debtedness to Dr. Lane, to whose collaboration the peda- 
gogic efficiency of the text is largely due. 

He is also under many obligations to Mr. H. E. Hayes 
for his assistance in collecting the illustrations; to many 
official and other sources of information in our own and 
other countries ; and especially to the publications of our 
Bureau of Statistics, whose Chief, the Hon. 0. P. Austin, 
has kindly facilitated the receipt of important data. 

A book like this has nothing to do with unnatural 
'Conditions that injure or stifle trade and industry. War 
withers the peaceful pursuits that man has developed, but 
trade and production upbuild the world and spread its bless- 
ings. We are dealing here with the natural aspects of pro- 
duction and commerce and not with the abnormal effects in 
which war involves them. Cyrus C. Adams. 

January 1, 1919. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PA6B 

I. — Nature and conditions of commerce .... 1 
The necessity for commerce — Domestic and foreign trade — 
Conditions required for large commerce — Commercial geog- 
raphy. 

II. — Natural conditions affecting commerce ... 5 
The influence of climate — Forms of the earth's surface — The 
ocean — Winds and currents. 

III. — Human control of commerce 17 

The races of mankind — Methods by which modern com- 
merce have been developed. 

IV. — Human control of commerce (Contmued) ... 25 
Communications, transportation, and other conveniences of 
commerce, 

V. — The United States 37 

Cereals and the trade in them. 
VI. — The United States (Continued) . . . . .51 
Other vegetable food products, beverages, tobacco, and the 
trade in them. 

VII. — The United States (Continued) 66 

Animals used for food, and some other animal products. 

VIII. — The United States (Continued) 8^ 

Vegetable and animal fibers, their products and the trade in 
them. 

IX. — The United States (Continued) 96 

Forest products, their manufactures and the trade in them. 

X. — The United States (Continued) 105 

Mineral products and the trade in them. 



VlU ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XL — The United States {Continued) 123 

Distribution of manufactures — The leading industries. 

XII. — The United States {Continued) 130 

Transportation, seaports and other trade centers. 

XIII. — The United States {Continued) 142 

Foreign trade of the country — The world's trade. 

XIV. — Colonies of the United St.\tes 146 

Porto Kico, Territory of Hawaii, Guam, Tutuila, the Phil- 
ippines. 

f XV. — Canada and Newfoundland . . , . . 156 

XVI. — Great Britain and Ireland 163 

XVII.— Germany . . . 174 

XVIIL— France . . .183 

XIX. — Belgium and the Netherlands 193 

XX,— Scandinavia 202 

Sweden, Norway, Denmark. 

XXI. — Switzerland 208 

XXII. — Austria-Hungary . 213 

XXIIL— Russia in Europe . . . . . . . .219 

XXIV. — Italy, Spain, and Portugal 228 

XXV. — The Balkan States and Asiatic Turkey . . 240 

XXVI. — Mexico and Central America 247 

XXVII.— South America 257 

Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, 
Paraguay. 

XXVIII. — South America {Continued) 268 

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile; also West 
Indies, Bermuda. 

XXIX.— Japan and China 280 

XXX. — India — Ceylon — Russian Asia — The lesser coun- 
tries OF Asia 289 

XXXI. — Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania . . . 303 

XXXII.— Africa 312 

XXXIII. — Rebuilding the World 323 

Statistical Tables 329 

Index 331 



ILLUSTEATIONS Al^D MAPS 



FIG. PAGE 

1. Comnierciiil regions and highways of the world , . . facing 1 

2. Effect of altitude in distributing vegetation 6 

5. Annual amount of rainfall 8 

4. Drowned valley harbor . . . ■ 9 

6. Artificial harbor (Algiers) 9 

6. A mountain-range that influences climate and hinders commerce . 11 

V. Prevailing wunds 15 

8. Races of man IS 

9. A steam-shovel loading ore 21 

10. Distribution of domestic animals 26 

11. Dogs as draft animals 27 

12. Negro porters on the Congo 28 

13. Sectional view of an ocean steamship 29 

14. Suez Canal 31 

15. Growth of the world's railroads 32 

16. Colonies . 35 

17. Rainfall in the United States 37 

18. The world's crop of cereals 38 

19. Vegetable products — wheat, cotton, tobacco, cocoanut ... 39 

20. The Avorld's wheat crop 40 

21. Wheat areas of the United States ........ 41 

22. Export wheat in bags 42 

23. Vegetable products — sugar-cane, sugar-beet, maize, pepper . . 44 

24. The world's maize crop 45 

25. The world's oats crop • . .47 

26. The world's rye crop 47 

27. The world's barley crop 48 

28. Vegetable products — rice, date-palm, sago-palm, banana, brcadfruit- 

tree 49 

29. Cane-sugar crop in year 1900--'01 52 

30. Beet-sugar crop in year 1900-'01 53 

31. Potato-field in Colorado 55 

32. Orange grove in southern California 56 

33. Vegetable products — coffee, tea, cacao, wine, mate .... 58 

34. Gathering coffee in Brazil 59 

ix 



X ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

FIG. PAGK 

35. Approximate annual yield of coifee, tea, and cacao .... 60 

36. The cacao-tree and its fruit 61 

37. A tobacco-field 64 

37a. Tobacco in the United States 65 

38. Cattle in the United States 67 

39. Cattle ranch on the Cimarron Kiver 68 

40. Cattle-yards near the slaughter-houses 69 

41. Beef in cold storage . . . 69 

42. Swine in the United States 70 

43. A modern butter factory 73 

44. Fishing banks and fisheries (Northeastern United States and south- 

east Canada) 75 

45. Sea fisheries of west Europe . 76 

46. A salmon 77 

47. Salmon cannery in Alaska 78 

48. Eskimo women cleaning salmon in Alaska 78 

49. Cotton in the United States 83 

50. World's consumption of raw cotton 84 

51. Unloading cotton at New Orleans from a Mississippi steamboat . 85 

52. World's production of wool, in million pounds 88 

53. Sheep-farming in the West 89 

54. Eaw-silk production in 1899 91 

55. Interior of a silk-mill at Paterson, N.J 92 

?6. A hemp-field in Kentucky 94 

57. Chief conditions of vegetation .97 

58. Lumber in the United States 99 

59. A log drive 100 

60. Mineral products — coal, copper, gold, silver, lead (telegraph lines) . 106 

61. World's production of coal 107 

62. Coal-fields in the United States 108 

63. Miner in a coal-mine 109 

64. Coke-ovens 110 

65. Mineral products — iron, tin, sulphur, petroleum, diamonds (ocean 

currents) Ill 

66. Weight of metals produced 112 

67. World's production of pig iron . 113 

68. Lake Superior iron-ore district 113 

69. Iron-ore shipping routes 114 

70. Birmingham (Ala.) iron and coal-mining district .... 115 

71. Blast furnaces 116 

72. Petroleum-fields 119 

73. Petroleum tank steamer 120 

74. Density of population 124 

75. A fine water-power 125 

76. Across the continent, 1849 130 

77. A "prairie schooner" 131 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS XI 

FIG. PAGE 

78. Across the continent to-day— mail express 131 

79. Growtli of railroads in the United States 132 

80. Chief railroads in the United States 133 

81. The Soo and Canadian Canals 134 

82. United States interior navigation 135 

83. A Mississippi steamer 136 

84. A lock on the Cumberland Canal 137 

85. Ocean vessel at her dock ' . 138 

86. Primitive and modern commerce 145 

87. Map of Porto Rico 147 

88. Making hats in Porto Kico 148 

89. Map of the Hawaiian Islands 150 

90. Harbor of Honolulu 151 

91. Map of the Philippines 153 

92. Fishing boats in the Philippines 154 

93. Map of southern Canada and Newfoundland 157 

94. Iset-iishing oft' the coast 159 

95. A lobster trap 160 

96. Map of British railroads and ports . 164 

97. The Tilbury docks 165 

98. Map of British products 167 

99. British coal-fields 169 

100. English cotton and woolen districts 171 

101. German seaports and rivers 175 

102. The free port of Hamburg 176 

103. Map of German industries 178 

104. Map of German railroads 181 

105. Map of the industries of France 184 

106. A bit of Marseilles harbor 185 

107. The port of Havre 186 

108. Agriculture and animal-raising in France 187 

109. The world's wine crop 183 

110. Wine and fisheries of France 189 

111. Sardine-fishing boats in France 190 

112. Agricultural map of the Netherlands and Belgium .... 194 

113. Industrial and commercial map of the Netherlands and Belgium . 195 

114. Canal boats at Rotterdam 199 

115. Map of industries, mines, and commerce of Scandinavia . . . 203 

116. Map of Swiss industries and agriculture 209 

117. Map of railroads in Switzerland 210 

118. Map of agriculture in Austria-Hungary 215 

119. Map of industries and mineral products in Austria-Hungary . . 217 

120. Map of agriculture, manufactures, and fisheries in Russia . . 220 

121. Map of minerals, rivers, and seaports in Russia 223 

122. Map of railroads and seaports in Italy 229 

123. Map of industries in north Italy 230 



Xll ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

FIG. PAGE 

124. Map of agriculture, minerals, and fisheries in Italy . . . .231 

125. A donkey in Italy 232 

126. Carrara marble 234 

127. Map of Spain and Portugal 236 

128. Map of the Balkan States 241 

129. The Corinth Canal . . . . . ., . . . .244 

130. Map of agriculture in Mexico 248 

131. Map of mining in Mexico . . 249 

132. Map of railroads in Mexico 251 

133. Map of Central America 253 

134. Banana plant and fruit 255 

135. Map of Venezuela and the Guianas 258 

136. Map of Brazil 260 

137. Drying coffee in Brazil 261 

138. Map of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay .... 264 

139. Map of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru 269 

140. Map of Bolivia 273 

141. Grinding sugar-cane . 276 

142. Map of Cuba 277 

143. Cutting sugar-cane 279 

144. Map of tea and raw silk in Japan 281 

145. Map of chief products of China 285 

146. A view in Canton harbor 287 

147. Map of wheat, rice, and millet in India 290 

148. Harbor of Bombay 292 

149. A flour-mill in northern India 293 

150. Map of tea, coffee, cotton, and opium in India 294 

151. A tea- plantation in India 295 

152. Map of southern Siberia 296 

153. Map of Russian Central Asia 299 

154. The date-palm 300 

155. Map of arable and grazing lands in Australia 304 

156. Map of railroads and seaports in- Australia 305 

157. An artesian well 307 

158. Map of New Zealand 308 

159. The cocoanut-palm and its fruit 310 

160. A fishing-boat in Fiji 311 

161. A farm scene on the Nile 313 

162. A camel caravan crossing the Sahara ....... 314 

163. Map of Algeria and Tunis 315 

164. The oil-palm 316 

165. Map of South Africa 317 

166. An ostrich farm 318 

167. A cattle train in South Africa 320 

168. A refrigerated-beef train from Chicago 320 

169. Main Street, Port Elizabeth 321 




Fig. 1.— Observe the continental railroads which, connecting with the ocean routes, girdle the earth with steam transportation. The regions colored to show important or nndeveloued commerce are 
constiiQUy growing m commercial importance. The areas in white are not likely ever to be very important except as mining may be developed. The Date Line, to mark the change of day in cir- 
cumnavigatmg the earth, is placed in the Pacific, where navigators may most conveniently add a day to or subtract a day from their calendars. In Bering Sea it deviates from the 180th meridian, so 
that United States islands may have the western una Wi,<.=i«., ioio„.i.= ik,. ooctom Ante : also farther sonth tr, ao,.vo the >,r,oir.o=o roiotinna r.f fhp South Pacific with Australia. Simin carried Iha 



-^ „ o ..^>-.v,.o, iiuijuiiauce. xne areas in white are not likely ever to uc .cij ..upur 

th t jr -^t A '^ • ' P^^*-^d in the Pacific, where navigators may most conveniently add a aay to \ji esuuiract a aay irom xneir caienuars. iii cenug oea jl ueviatcs num mc ioui-u luciiuion, r^j 

that United States islands may have the western and Russian islands the eastern date ; also farther south, to serve the business relations of the South Pacific with Australia. Spain carried Iha 
western date to the Philippines, but it was so inconvement tor the business men of the islands and of Hongkong that the eastern date was adopted. 



ELEMEH"TART 
COMIIEEOIAL GEOGEAPHT 



CHAPTEE I 

NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF COMMERCE 

The necessity for commerce — Domestic and foreign trade — Conditions 
required for large commerce — Commercial geography. 

The necessity for commerce. — Without the aid of his fel- 
low-man, no one can produce all the food, clothing, shelter, 
and other things he needs to nourish his body and develop 
his mind. Even the savage fisherman of the Congo, whose 
needs are few, exchanges his fish for the yams, bananas, and 
maize of the neighboring planter, or trades with the hunter 
for his monkey-skins or ivory. Our own farmers, who raise 
grain, cotton, or tobacco ; the ranchmen of the Western 
plains, who care for thousands of sheep and cattle — have 
neither the skill nor the time to make plows or to weave 
cloth. They must, therefore, exchange the things which 
they produce for groceries, garments, house furniture, and 
other comforts produced by the toil of others. This is 
trade or commerce. 

Domestic commerce. — If our neighbor, the grocer, sells 
commodities that are as good and as cheap as those of his 
rival in business a mile away, we are likely to give him our 
trade. Men do not send hundreds or thousands of miles 
for what they need if they can produce these articles just 
as cheaply at home. Xo matter where we may live, as a 
rule, we are able to get most of the things we need from 
1 1 



2 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

the products of our country. For example, Germany, 
though she expends many millions of dollars every year for 
foreign wheat, flour, and rye, still raises seven-eighths of all 
the breadstuffs her people consume. The people of the 
United States buy $40 worth of home products for every 
dollar they expend for foreign goods. We see, therefore, 
that the domestic or home trade of a people is always many 
times larger than its foreign trade. 

Foreign commerce. — Still, many necessaries or comforts 
of life can not be obtained in one's own country. The tea 
and coffee which the Minnesota wheat-grower drinks must 
be brought to him thousands of miles by land and sea. His 
feet could not be shod with rubber shoes if men did not 
venture deep into the gloom of tropical forests to get raw 
rubber from the trees and vines that produce it. Many of 
the Dutch build stone houses, but as there is no building- 
stone in the Netherlands, it must be sent to them from 
foreign countries. Maize will not ripen in the cool sum- 
mers of Great Britain, and so the British people buy from 
us millions of dollars' worth of corn every year to feed to 
their live stock. Thus it is seen that every part of the 
world is dependent upon other parts for many of the things 
it needs. This gives rise to foreign or international com- 
merce. 

Conditions of commerce. — Commerce does not thrive unless 
conditions favorable to its growth exist. If some of the 
great differences between early commerce and modern com- 
merce are explained, we shall clearly understand why trade 
in the early times was very much smaller, in proportion to 
the population, than it is in our own day. 

Large commerce requires hoth abundant raw material 
and large manufactures. — Producers of raw materials such 
as wheat, cotton, and cattle can give little or no attention 
to turning these commodities into flour, cloth, meat, and 
leather. New England^ with Avorn soil, raising little grain, 
no cotton, and only small herds and flocks, could not be 



NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF COMMERCE 3 

prosperous without its thousands of mills and shops that 
turn raw products into articles which the whole world uses. 
But in early times there were no large manufactures. Kings 
of a thousand years ago had their clothing made by women 
on their farms. Every village had its weaver, its black- 
smith, and its leather-worker. Europe could not buy many 
things from Asia, because it had no manufactures with 
which to pay for them. Nearly every Asian product it pur- 
chased was paid for with gold and silver, which few persons 
were able to accumulate. So there was but little trade. 
Most civilized lands now have a great many factories, which 
change the products of the farm, the forest, and the mine 
into countless things that we use every day ; thus the arti- 
cles of trade have been greatly increased and commerce 
has grown enormously. 

Large commerce requires rapid and cheap transportation. 
— Except along waterways, there could not be much trade, 
when roads were so few and wretched that Englishmen 
sometimes starved in one district though wheat was plenti- 
ful in another ; or when land carriage was in clumsy, slow 
carts, or on the backs of packhorses, mules, or men, so 
that grain, timber, and many other necessaries could not be 
carried far, because they were too heavy to bear the cost of 
such expensive transport. There could be no great world 
trade when the oceans were highways only for tiny vessels 
that seldom ventured out of sight of land. Asia could 
have little intercourse with Europe when the freight-trains 
were camel caravans to Constantinople. Only silks, precious 
stones, costly spices, or other expensive goods were worth 
carrying hundreds of miles by caravan. To-day, steam and 
electric power moves all kinds of commodities, doing easily, 
swiftly, and cheaply an amount of work that in early times 
would have required many millions of men and animals to 
do slowly and at great cost. 

Commerce requires protection. — In early times the feudal 
barons of Europe often robbed the caravans of wealthy 



4 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

mercliants on the road. Even if they did not rob the trav- 
eler outright, they forced him to pay a heavy tax for the 
privilege of passing through their territories. Large trade 
could not be developed under such circumstances. Civil- 
ized governments to-day keep police and soldiers on the 
land, and navies on the sea, to protect the lives, property, 
and business of their citizens. The producer and the mer- 
chant are encouraged to toil, because they know they will 
be permitted to enjoy the fruit of their labors. 

Commercial geography. — Any book devoted, as this one 
is, to the geography of commerce must tell how the mate- 
rials that man uses are distributed in this great workshop, 
the world. Where are the regions in which men can pro- 
duce a great deal more wheat, rubber, meat, gold, or other 
commodities than the people there can consume ? Where 
are the regions that have too small a supply of these de- 
sirable things, and that need to buy the surplus of the 
countries that are overflowing with them ? Where are the 
great centers in which materials are turned into the count- 
less articles that meet the needs of the human race ? 
Along what great routes is food transported thousands of 
miles to those who need to buy it, or various substances 
taken to the factories which change them into many articles 
of commerce? What are the influences that stimulate 
trade, or hinder or destroy it? Commercial geography 
must answer these questions. 

Fig. 1 shows how various parts of the world differ from 
one another in commercial importance. The colors on the 
map illustrate the differences which climate and other in- 
fluences produce in the commercial value of the various 
regions. The following chapters will tell what the influ- 
ences are that so greatly affect commerce. 



CHAPTER II 

NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 

The influence of climate — Forms of the earth's surface — The ocean— = 
Winds and currents. 

Many natural conditions — such as the climate of differ- 
ent countries, the nature of their coasts, the position of 
their harbors, mountains, valleys,- and other forms of the 
land and the quality of their soils — have a great influence 
upon their commerce. Some of these influences will be 
considered in this chapter. 

Hot climates. — It would be unwise to send large cargoes 
of woolen cloth to hot countries ; the market for these 
fabrics is in cooler regions, while there is a great demand 
for cool cottons in hot countries. We should not expect to 
sell any -kind of goods in large quantities in the tropical 
Amazon valley or Congo forests. In the excessive heat and 
moisture of those regions, where there is little need for 
clothing, articles of food like the banana grow wild and 
man's wants are few. He has little energy, for he can live 
almost without work. Many tropical countries, therefore^ 
could have very little part in commerce if they did not pro- 
duce rubber, cabinet woods, quinin, drugs, fruits, and other 
products that are needed in other lands. 

Cold climates. — We should not expect to sell much in the 
arctic regions, because very few people live in those frozen 
lands ; and the animals they kill for food, the skins and 
furs they fashion into garments, and the snow and stone 
huts in which they live, are better adapted for their needs 
than the food, cloths, or lumber that we might send them. 
2 6 



6 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



We should have no business interests in the arctic regions 
if they did not possess commodities that manufacturing 
countries need : whale oil and bone, seal oil and skins, the 
light and warm down with which the eider-duck lines its nest, 
or the superior iron ore of the Gellivare mines in Sweden. 

Temperate climates. — Man has the greatest energy of 
body and vigor of mind in the genial air of the temperate 
zones. Here he works hardest with brain and hand. He 
invents many conveniences and engages in many industries 
that multiply the comforts of life and add to the blessings 
of civilization. He makes a greater variety of desirable 
things and buys and sells more than the people of the other 
zones. Thus it happens that the larger part of the world's 
commerce is between the busy farmers, manufacturers, and 
other workmen of the temperate zone. 

Temperate or frigid climates are found in the higher 
parts of the tropical zone, because climate gradually grows 
cooler as the land rises above sea-level. The highest moun- 
tain peaks of the Andes, under 
the equator, are capped with 
snow, while the high plains near 
them may be as cool as a Min- 
nesota summer. The city of 
Quito stands upon a plateau 
nearly 10,000 feet above the sea. 
From their homes the inhabit- 
ants of the city can see eleven 
mountain summits white with 
snow the year round. The 
farmers on this high plateau 
raise their crops in a climate 
that is like continual spring; 
and all along the uplands of the Andes the people do not 
need to buy our wheat or other grains of the temperate 
zones, because they can raise them, though the lowlands 
near them produce only tropical products (Fig. 2). 




7,300 ft 



Pig. 2.— Showing the effect of alti- 
tude in distributing vegetation 
from the tropical sea-level to the 
frigid summit of Mount Kenia, 
under the equator in East Africa, 



NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 7 

Rainfall. — The sea is the greatest source of rain ; nearly 
all regions near the sea have a larger rainfall than the part 
of the continents far inland. As good crops can not l)e 
laised with less than 18 to 20 inches of rain every year, the 
drier parts of the world can not produce much vegetable 
food, unless they can use rivers or lakes for irrigation. 

Through evaporation, tiny vapor-bubbles, which are 
lighter than air, are constantly rising from all lakes, rivers, 
and seas. The wind carries these water-bubbles in the form 
of vapor, the clouds are condensed, and the raindrops fall 
upon the land; but if the prevailing winds pass over the 
lands toward the sea instead of over the sea to the land, 
tliey are dry winds and there is little or no rainfall. This 
is the reason why there is little rain in the Sahara, in parts 
of the Gobi desert, and on the coasts of Southern Cali- 
fornia, Peru, and southwest Africa. Such regions cannot 
have great trade. These facts show us that winds, as rain- 
carriers, have large influence upon commerce (Fig. 3). 

Coasts. — The high, precipitous rock wall forming most 
of the south coast of Sicily is a type of coast line that 
is most unfavorable for commerce. It is dangerous for 
vessels to approach such coasts ; unless there are openings 
in them to sheltered harbors there can be no sea trade. For 
this reason most of the population of Sicily lives nearer the 
north and east coasts, where there are fishing and trading 
ports. Straight coast lines, like that of the larger part of 
Africa, are unfavorable to commerce, because, as there are 
few good harbors, the goods to be shipped must be sent far 
to a seaport. 

Harbors. — Sea-going and lake vessels require sheltered 
places where they may load or unload their cargoes in calm 
water or ride safely at anchor in severe storms. Deep in- 
dentations in coast lines provide many harbors and thus 
help commerce. The broken coast of Cuba has so many 
fine harbors that the chief tobacco district, the sugar-cane 
district, and the mining district have each fine ports for 



NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 



DROWNED VALLEYsrt,, rabll 




Fig. 4._The valley, submerged by tbe 
sea, entering through the Golden 
Gate, gives San Francisco one of the 
largest harbors in the world. 



their trade. Our broken Atlantic coast supplies numerous 

harbors, and is far more favorable to commerce than the 

high and rocky Pacific 
coast, which is exposed to 
the full fury of gales and 
has only a few places for 
the shelter of ships and 
steamers. One of these 
places is San Francisco, 
which has a very fine har- 
bor (Fig. 4). 

The vast development 
of European trade is largely 
due to the many fine har- 
bors which the inlets along 
the coast of Europe pro- 
vide. Good harbors are 

very important for the commerce of civilized peoples. 

Most of the dangers to navigation are near land, for coastal 

waters are shallow and ships may be 

wrecked on rocks or driven ashore in 

storm or fog. Low, sandy coasts, sloping 

very gradually to deep water, are unfavor- 
able for sea trade, because vessels are 

likely to be stuck on their sandy bottom. 

For this reason, there is little navigation 

in Chinese waters along the west and 

north sides of the Gulf of Chih-li. 

Roadsteads. — A place near shore that 

affords merely good anchorage ground 

but no shelter from storms, is called a 

roadstead or roads ; but as roadsteads 

expose vessels to the full fury of ocean 

waves, breakwaters are often built, making 

artificial harbors. This has been done at 

Algiers and at Cherbourg, France (Fig. 5). 




ARTIFICIAL UAUBOK 

ALGIERS 

SCALE 1 :l, 5 30.00-: 



Fig. 5.— French enter- 
prise has given Al- 
giers, which had only 
anchorage ground, a 
fine harbor by means 
of long breakwaters 
enclosing a large area 
of deep water. 



10 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Plains and plateaus. — About one-half of the earth's sur- 
face is called lowland, for it is not more than 1,000 feet 
above the sea-level. Wherever the lowland stretches away 
with a comparatively level surface it is called a plain or 
prairie. Higher tracts of more or less level land are called 
plateaus or table-lands. Fertile plains, like the prairies of 
our country, or the plains of Eussia and Hungary, are the 
greatest grain-raising regions, and are often called the 
granaries of the world. There are also wide plains and 
plateaus far inland that do not have sufficient rainfall to 
nurture crops of grain, but, growing abundant grass, they 
raise millions of cattle and sheep ; such are our great plains 
stretching from the middle of the Dakotas to Texas, and 
westward to the lofty plateau on which the Rocky Moun- 
tains stand. We may think of the wide-spreading plains 
and plateaus as the greatest source of maize and wheat, 
meat, wool, and hides. Their level surface also is favorable 
to transportation, for it is easy to build railroads across 
them. The great grass regions, however, can not have a 
large trade except in the few commodities they export, for 
a dense population is never found in regions where grazing 
is the chief pursuit. Why ? 

Mountains. — Most of the men who spend their lives 
digging for the wealth that is found underground toil in 
mountain regions, because the larger part of our iron, gold, 
silver, and other metals, and much of our coal, come from 
these localities. Many mountain ranges, also, are covered 
with fine forests. Just as grain-fields and orchards are 
seen everywhere in fertile lowlands, so metals, coal, and 
timber are the most characteristic products of the moun- 
tains. 

The torrents that pour down mountain sides supply 
more abundant water-power than is found in any other 
part of the world, so that Switzerland, for example, turns 
nearly all the wheels of its mills with water. 

Mountains also have much influence upon climate. 



NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 11 

When one stands on the west slopes of our Pacific coast 
mountains, he may feel the warm, wet winds coming in 
from the ocean. As the high ranges stop the eastward 
movement of these winds, they rise along the great wall of 
rock till, in the cooler altitudes, their water vapor is con- 
densed and falls as rain. The little wind that escapes 
over the mountain has been wrung nearly dry ; so on the 




Fig. 6.— a mountain range that influences climate and hinders commerce. 

seaward side of the ranges there may be orchards, vine- 
yards, and fields, while on the landward side, to the east 
of the mountains, the soil is parched and vegetation 
scanty. 

Mountain ranges hinder commerce so far as they make 
it difficult to carry commodities from one region to another. 
The parallel ranges of mountains behind Amoy, Fu-chau, 
and other ports of southeast China have kept those ports 
from handling the trade of the great Yangtse valley, where 
many millions of people have much to sell and need to buy 
much. The deep indentations in mountain ranges known 
as passes are of great importance as trade routes, because 
through them it is possible to establish communications 
between the regions that the mountains separate. 

Rivers. — The upper course of most rivers is a foaming 
mountain torrent, valueless for navigation, but useful as 



12 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

water-power. The middle course has a more placid and 
gentler descent, though sometimes interrupted by falls or 
rapids, as the Mississippi at Minneapolis and Eock Island. 
However, with improvements, such as those made at Eock 
Island and at the Iron Gates in the Danube, steamboats 
may ply for great distances on the middle course. The 
lower course is through the low plain of the coast, where the 
current is so slow that sailing vessels, as well as steam- 
boats, may carry the traffic. These characteristic stages 
of a river do not always exist as here described ; the Mis- 
sissippi, for example, does not rise among mountains, and 
rapids are found within ninety miles of the mouth of the 
Congo. 

Deltas. —Elvers that empty into other rivers usually 
have only one mouth; but those which fall into the sea 
may divide into several branches forming a delta, as in the 
Mississippi, Ehine, Danube, and Nile. A delta is an im- 
pediment to navigation, for the sand and other material 
known as detritus which has been brought down the river 
clogs the delta channels. It is expensive and difficult to 
maintain in most deltas sufficient depth of water for large 
vessels. The South Pass, in the Mississippi delta, in which 
the water was formerly only 8 feet deep, has for years 
been maintained at a depth of over 30 feet, so that the 
largest steamers are now able to reach New Orleans. 

Estuaries. — When a river enters the sea through only 
one mouth it may widen till it forms a great inlet called an 
estuary. These wide river-mouths, such as those of the 
Elbe, Thames, Gironde, and Congo, are well adapted for 
shipping and commerce, though their value is sometimes 
lessened by sand-bars. Some estuaries, as those of the Del- 
aware, Thames, and Congo, enable sea vessels to penetrate 
far into the land, making it possible to locate great com- 
mercial and manufacturing seaports like Philadelphia, 
London, and Hamburg, a considerable distance from the 
sea. 



NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 13 

Valleys. — The human race has always found it easiest to 
penetrate far into the land along the river valleys ; thus 
civilization developed first along the great rivers, as the 
Nile of Egypt, the Ganges and Indus of India, and thfe 
Yangtse of China. 

Many rivers, overflowing their banks every year, spread 
far around them the rich alluvium they have carried down- 
stream, thus giving great fertility to their valleys. The 
banks and delta of the Nile, for example, are fitted to sup- 
port a very dense population by the fertilizing silt that 
reaches the Nile from the highlands of Abyssinia. 

Oceans. — The Atlantic is most important to commerce, 
because it unites the great trading and manufacturing 
nations of the Old and New Worlds which carry on most 
of the international trade. About 6,000 steam and sailing 
vessels are scattered over the Atlantic every day in the 
year; about 400,000 persons are constantly afloat on this 
greatest of ocean highways. The importance of the Atlan- 
tic is increased by the fact that most of the great river 
highways are tributary to it, supplying many thousands of 
miles of land water-routes that feed the Atlantic commerce. 
The most important of these rivers are the Mississippi, St. 
Lawrence, Orinoco, Amazon, and La Plata of America, 
the Nile and Congo of Africa, and the rivers of three-fourths 
of Europe (Fig. 1). 

The commerce of the Pacific, on the other hand, receives 
little traffic from great rivers except from the Yangtse of 
China, and the Columbia of the United States. The Pacific 
coast rivers of our country supply only about 900 miles of 
navigation to the ocean; but the Pacific is of much larger 
importance now that the Panama Canal has been opened, for 
it establishes closer trade relations between the great sea- 
ports of the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

The most important water-routes tributary to the Indian 
Ocean are the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra of India, 
and the Irawadi of Burma. The importance of the Indian 



14 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Ocean as a trade highway to Europe has been largely in- 
creased since the Suez Canal has so greatly shortened the 
water route between India and Europe. 

The ice-choked polar seas are of little value to trade. 
The whale and seal fisheries of the Antarctic Ocean, once 
important, were destroyed by overfishing and have only re- 
cently been revived. The Arctic Ocean, in three centuries, 
has yielded vast wealth to man from fish, whales, and 
furs, but in recent years these industries have declined. 
Large rivers empty into the Arctic, but as they are frozen 
more than half the year, they have very little part in inter- 
national trade. 

Tides. — Tides, rising highest in bays and estuaries, are 
of great importance in commerce. It is impossible, at 
many ports, for large vessels to enter the harbors except at 
high tide. The two greatest ports of Europe, London 
and Hamburg, would be of little value if high tide did 
not render their docks accessible every day to the largest 
steamers. 

Winds. — As winds have large influence upon navigation, 
they are important in commerce, though they were more 
important before steam was used on vessels. Some winds 
blow in one direction the year around, or for months at a 
time; sailing vessels often travel far to get into these 
winds, because they help them toward their port. Ships 
from ^ew York to north Europe are speeded on their way 
by the prevailing westerly winds (Fig. 7). If they are 
bound from Liverpool to South America, they go south till 
they reach the northeast trade-winds off the coast of Africa, 
and then, with every sail set, they swiftly cross to the South 
American coast. When a clipper ship starts from New 
York for Australia, it sails east almost to the coast of 
Africa ; there it enters the northeast trades and is carried 
nearly to South America, where it hugs the coast to keep 
out of the southeast trades, and near Eio de Janeiro gets 
into the westerly winds, that carry it straight to Australia. 



NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 15 

Coming home, it sails east in the westerly winds to the 
south of Africa, whence the southeast trades take it to the 
American coast. 

The northeast and southeast trade-winds of the At- 
lantic and Pacific blow steadily all the year, but the trade- 




FiG. 7. 



winds of the Indian Ocean and China Sea (called monsoons) 
blow from the north in winter and from the south in sum- 
mer. Tropical whirlwinds, called typhoons in the monsoon 
regions, and cyclones elsewhere, sometimes do much damage 
to shipping and ports. Winds affect the speed even of 
modern steamships. 

Marine currents. — As ocean currents are caused largely 
by the i^revailing winds, they have about the same course 
over the sea. They help or retard navigation to some ex- 
tent, according as the course of a vessel is with or against 
them. A vessel sailing from Panama to Manila, for ex- 
ample, is steered into the equatorial current flowing west, 
and may thereby gain forty miles a day. 



16 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Summary. — The facts given in this chapter show some 
of the ways in which the forces and forms of nature exert 
a most powerful influence upon man in his daily life and 
in his business pursuits. We shall consider in the next 
two chapters how commerce is affected by man's own char- 
acter and capabilities, and how he tries to utilize the help- 
ful influences of nature, and to overcome those that hinder 
him in his work. 



CHAPTEE III 

HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 

The races of mankind— Methods by which modern commerce has been 

developed. 

The races of mankind. — Man lives in all parts of the 
world except in the antarctic regions. The fact that he 
alone lives all over the world shows that he more easily 
adapts himself to heat, cold, differences in food, and other 
influences than other animals. But climate and food have 
a powerful effect upon his body and mind. The color of 
his skin, the form of his body, his physical vigor and mental 
energy, are affected by the circumstances in which he lives, 
or his environment. The natives of very hot or very cold 
regions are less intelligent than those living in temperate 
climates. The difference in their physical form and ap- 
pearance has given rise to the division of men into various 
races, that are broadly classified into the black, yellow, and 
white types (Fig. 8). 

The Uach races. — The black races live mostly in Africa, 
south of the Sahara Desert, though they are also found in 
Australia and some other regions. They are the least civ- 
ilized, and have the smallest part in trade ; but they are 
capable of great improvement under civilizing influences. 
Millions of them who were taken to America as slaves are 
now free men, many own small farms and have acquired 
the comforts, and even the refinements, of civilized life. 

The yelloiv races. — The yellow peoples include the Amer- 
ican Indians and the Eskimos ; but most of these races live 
in Asia. Xone of them is, as yet, very important in com- 

17 



HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 19 

merce, except the Mongol varieties, among which are the 
Japanese and Chinese, who are highly civilized, and have 
an important share in the world's trade. A large part of 
the homes of the yellow peoples, or their habitat, as it is 
called, is the cold, thinly inhabited north lands of Europe, 
Asia, and America, which yield little except animal oils, 
furs, and reindeer. 

The ivMte races. — The white races are favored by their 
environment, most of them living in the temperate zones, 
w^hose climate, soil, and food tend to produce the greatest 
power of body and mind. They have, therefore, become 
the most civilized and progressive of all the races. Devel- 
oping many needs beyond mere shelter, food, or raiment, 
they invented numerous conveniences that add comfort and 
enjoyment to life. A great many industries were estab- 
lished to supply these conveniences. They also developed 
intellectual wants, which stimulated art and science. A 
few of the races, known as white, though they are dark- 
skinned, as in the north of Africa, still live in a state of 
barbarism. 

The Indo-Europeans. — The Indo-Europeans, who have 
spread all over the world, and control most of its com- 
merce, are the largest branch of the white races. The Indo- 
Europeans include English and other white races, living 
in north and central Europe, who occupy North America as 
far south as Mexico, all of Australia, and South Africa; 
the Eomanic races of Spain and Portugal, who are spread 
over South America; and the Slavonic Ikissians, who con- 
trol the whole of north Asia. These highly developed races 
have become the rulers of most of the foreign lands they 
have occupied. The Xorth Europeans have done most to 
develop natural resources, extend trade, and form stable 
governments which foster business interests by protecting 
life and property, but nearly all Indo-Europeans have con- 
tributed to make modern commerce what it is. Let us con- 
sider some of the methods by which these races have built up 



20 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

modern commerce till nearly the whole world has become 
one great trading community. 

Labor-saving. — Broadly speaking, we may say that manu- 
factures and commerce have grown to their present large 
dimensions through numerous devices and inventions for 
saving labor. Here are a few illustrations of this great 
fact: 

Little cotton was used till it was found that America 
could produce enormous quantities of it; then Europe 
wanted cotton cloth, but the demand could not be filled as 
long as the cotton was spun only by women in their homes 
and woven into coarse fabrics on rude hand-looms. It hap- 
pened that about the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
when steam-power began to be applied to the driving of 
machinery, the " spinning mule " was invented, by means of 
which one girl may attend to hundreds of spindles, produ- 
cing as much yarn in one day as hundreds of women were 
able to make on their spinning-wheels. Looms driven by 
steam-power were also made for weaving cotton-yarn into 
cloth, each machine producing as much cloth in a day as 
many men could make on the old hand-looms. 

There would not have been cotton enough to feed these 
machined if the old method of picking the seeds out of the 
fiber by hand had not been superseded by the cotton-gin. 
The negroes in our cotton belt used to spend their evenings 
and rainy days seeding cotton, one person being able to seed 
only four pounds of lint cotton in a week ; the perfected 
cotton-gin seeds 1,000 pounds of cotton in an hour. Eaw 
cotton is thus made into cloth by machinery driven by 
steam- or water-power so cheaply that millions of poor per- 
sons can buy it, though the cloth was once beyond their 
reach because it was so costly. Many of the great inven- 
tions for making cotton fabrics were later introduced into 
woolen manufactures, with the result that woolen fabrics 
have steadily declined in price for many years. 

Pins were high in price when each pin was hammered 



HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 21 

out by hand from a piece of wire ; an automatic machine 
now takes the material and, without any hand-work, produces 
in a day many thousands of finished, polished pins, stuck on 
papers, and selling for a trifling sum. Great steam-shovels 




Pig. 9.— a steam-shovel loadinjr ore. 

dig iron ore out of open pits near Lake Superior and dump 
it in railroad cars, at a cost for mining of ten to fifty cents 
a ton. Boots and shoes are cheap because machines have 
replaced hand-work. They split and cut the leather, do the 
sewing and pegging, make the heels, and save hand-labor 
in other ways. One man with a machine sews the soles of 
500 or 600 pairs of shoes in a day. 

We might, in the same way, examine all the industries 
of civilized man, finding, in most cases, that his ability to 
produce good and cheap commodities has been vastly in- 
creased by the invention of machinery and the application 
of steam, water, or electrical power to drive it, thus saving 



22 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

an enormous amount of physical labor, which is the most 
expensive form of power. 

Subdivision of labor. — Commodities are also improved in 
quality and cheapened in price by dividing the work of 
producing them among a number of persons, each of whom 
is an expert in a single process of manufacture. A Derby 
hat, for example, passes through many hands. The felt 
may be cut in one room, stiffened in another, stretched and 
blocked in a third ; in the fourth department the hat is 
shaped and the rim curled, the work of the presser and 
finisher being still required before the hat is ready for a 
purchaser. Each workman becomes very expert in the one 
thing he has to do ; he works rapidly, thus reducing the 
labor cost of the hat ; he does good work, thus insuring a 
good hat which could not be made so well and cheaply if 
one man did it all. 

This form of labor-saving is found in nearly every in- 
dustry and branch of trade. In a large department store 
one employee may buy nothing but hosiery and knit goods, 
another the silks, and a third the furniture, while each 
salesman is trained to special knowledge of the stock in a 
single department and methods of selling it. Subdivision 
of labor marks the highest development of the production 
of commodities and trade in them. Nations like the 
Chinese, who do not understand the advantages of sub- 
division, each product being the work of a single artisan, 
lag behind the others. 

Transportation. — Commodities, no matter how cheaply 
and abundantly produced, would be of little value if they 
could not be transferred cheaply and quickly from the 
producers to the millions of consumers. Iso labor-saving 
inventions have been of greater importance in developing 
modern commerce than those which have made it easy and 
cheap to carry wheat from Minnesota to Europe, lumber 
from San Francisco to South Africa, and building-stone 
from Norway to the Netherlands. Ships and railroad 



HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 23 

trains driven by steam, ship canals, tunnels piercing the 
mountains, and all other facilities devised to make it 
easier for men in one place to reach and trade with men in 
all other places, must be included among the great labor- 
saving factors that have made modern commerce ; but the 
importance of transportation will make it interesting and 
profitable to treat the subject more fully in the next 
chapter. . 

Chfcmistry applied to industries. — The modern chemist 
studies all kiuds of substances to learn of what elements 
they are composed. He reduces substances to their ele- 
ments and often builds up from them new chemical com- 
pounds. Thus the Germans are making indigo by com- 
bining its elements which they obtain from other products. 
Artificial indigo is the same as vegetable indigo, but is 
cheaper; so a new irdustry has been created in Germany. 
A certain kind of iron ore in our country w^as cast aside as 
worthless till a chemist found means to reduce it and ex- 
tract the iron — a discovery that was worth millions oi 
dollars. As chemistry enters into the manufacture of most 
of the common conveniences of life, such as window glass, 
kerosene, soap, steel, sugar, dyes, phosphorus from which 
matches are made, and innumerable other articles, we may 
readily see how important this science has been to the 
world. German factories alone employ nearly 10,000 chem- 
ists who are constantly striving to improve the processes 
and lessen the cost of production, and in other ways to 
make the most of all the materials that man uses. They 
have found, for example, how to extract two and a half 
times as much sugar from a pound of beet-root as could be 
done fifty years ago. This is one of the reasons why the 
cost of the sugar on our tables has been reduced more than 
half in thirty years, so that the world can afford to consume 
much more sugar than formerly ; the production of sugar 
and the trade in it have therefore vastly increased. 

These labor-saving discoveries and inventions that have 
3 



24 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

cheapened and improved production and transportation, 
and the modern science of chemistry that has shown man 
the nature of the materials at his hand and how to utilize 
them best, are the great factors that now enable every part 
of the world to buy more from other parts of the world 
than ever before. They have taken many common conven- 
iences, which were once luxuries enjoyed only by a few, 
into millions of homes. 

Good governmeiit. — But commerce can thrive only under 
good government. Men can not work w^ell unless peace and 
order prevail, and will not produce much if they are likely 
to be robbed of their products. Bad government in Eome 
permitted piracy to thrive jotl the Mediterranean till the 
Roman sea trade was prostrate and could revive only after 
Pompey, about 70 B. C, burned 1,300 pirate ships and scat- 
tered 22,000 buccaneers among inland colonies far from 
the sea. All civilized governments encourage industry and 
trade by protecting their citizens from evil-doers. They 
also help production and commerce in many ways, as, for 
example, by improving rivers and harbors and building 
lighthouses, and by collecting and distributing information 
of value to farmers and manufacturers. The sea, lakes, 
and rivers teem with food, and government fisheries boards 
promote fish culture in various ways. Geological surveys 
locate mining and quarrying districts, sites for artesian 
wells, and deal \nth irrigation problems. All good gov- 
ernments have special care of trade and industrial inter- 
ests, as the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of 
Foreign Commerce at Washington, the Board of Trade in 
Great Britain, an i the Department of Trade and Industry 
in France. 



CHAPTER IV 

HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE-(Con<tnMed) 
Communications, transportation, and other conveniences of commerce. 

Communications. — We have seen (page 3) that trade 
was small in the days long before railroads and steamships, 
when carts were stuck in the mud after every hard rain, 
and sailors, knowing nothing of the compass, seldom dared 
to venture out of sight of land. It is now easy to obtain 
rubber for automobile tires, tropical fruits, tea and coffee, 
and many other things, simply because man has wonder- 
fully improved the means of carrying freight from one 
place to another. As we must often meet the men with 
whom we do business in other places than where we live, 
as more frequently still we must communicate quickly with 
our fellow men, no matter how far away they are, the great 
postal systems of the world have been perfected, the tele- 
graph, telephone, and ocean cable invented, railroad trains 
that carry us at a speed of more than a mile a minute, and 
steamships that cross the Atlantic in five days, have been 
developed. The great commerce of to-day could not exist 
without these labor-saving methods of carrying ourselves 
or our thoughts from one place to another. 

Animal transportation. — As transport by means of ani- 
mals is slow and costly, it is not now used to a large extent 
except for short distances, as in the case of the farmer who 
takes his produce to the neighboring market-town with his 
horses, mules, or even his ox-team. Animals, too, including 
man, who carries his pack on his back or pushes his load in 

25 




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HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 



27 



a. barrow, are used in undeveloped countries where there 
are no raih-oads and no river boats and steamers. If the 
common roads are very poor, the cost of wagon or cart haul- 
age almost kills commerce, as in parts of China, where coal 
can not be sold at a profit if it must be carried in carts 
more than twenty miles. Observe in Fig. 10 the large areas 
where the sledge-dog, reindeer, camel, yak, or llama are 




Fig. 11.— These dogs a:. i i^ t! . i,,; 
town are supplied. Thoufauds of do^ 
bles, and flowers to market. 



-=„__J 



r c;iiL from which customers in a Belgian 
are used in Belgium to carry fruit, vegeta- 



almost the only means of transport (Fig. 11) ; and also the 
wide distribution of the horse and ox, which are still more 
largely used as pack and draft animals. In tropical Africa, 
native porters carry loads of 60 to 80 pounds on their backs. 



28 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Forty thousand negroes were hired to carry freight along 
the lower Congo around the cataracts at a cost of over $200 
a ton, the journey lasting three weeks. The railroad now 
carries the freight in two days at about one-tenth of the 




Fig. 12.— These negn'o porters have carried ivory tusks on their backs 235 miles 
around the rapids in the lower Congo. They are now within a few miles of 
Matadi, where a European steamer will take their freight. 



cost, with the result that the markets obtain far more rub- 
ber, ivory, and palm-oil from the Congo and at cheaper 
prices (Fig. 12). 

Water transportation. — It is cheaper to carry freight on 
water than on land because the same power can move a 
greater weight through water than over land. For this 
reason hundreds of steamships are constantly carrying 
freight from one port to another of the United States 



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M O fl M P^ O K 



30 ELEMENTARY COMMEKCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

(coast trade) ; as the oceans cover nearly three-f ourtlis of 
the earth's surface a very large part of the commerce be- 
tween different countries is carried across seas (deep-sea 
trade). 

As commodities can not be consumed while they are in 
transit, the sooner they get into the markets the better. 
For this reason steamships, which travel about four times 
as fast as sailing vessels, have driven most of the sailing 
fleet out of business (Fig. 13). Ships wifch sails are now 
mainly used by such people as the Gloucester fishermen in 
their search for cod on the Grand Banks, or for the trans- 
port of a comparatively small amount of bulky and heavy 
freight, such as lumber, wheat, and coal. These vessels 
ply along the coast, and when time is of no importance, 
carry freight the world over. We know now how terribly 
Avarships can cripple commerce on the sea. 

Two causes have greatly cheapened the cost of carrying 
ocean freight: 

1. Improvements in furnaces, boilers, and engines have 
reduced the cost of steam-power nearly one-half in the past 
thirty-five years/ so that vessels are moved much more 
cheaply. 

2. The substitution of iron and steel for wood in ship- 
building has made it possible to build much larger ships, 
increasing the carrying capacity and reducing the cost of 
freight per ton; this means that goods may be sold more 
cheaply, more people buy them, and more workmen are 
employed to produce the larger quantities demanded. In 
1918, our government was building excellent ships of con- 
crete at a greatly reduced cost. 

Ship-canals save time and money because they shorten 
ocean trade routes and thus reduce freight charges. Steam- 
ships from Europe no longer sail around the south of Africa 
to reach India, because they save over 5,000 miles by pass- 
ing through the Suez Canal. The export wheat trade of 
India shows what a wonderful influence a ship-canal may 



HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 



31 



have upon the industries of a people. Wheat was almost 
spoiled for flour-making when it was carried around the 
Cape of Good Hope through the hot tropical waters of the 
Indian Ocean and the Atlantic ; but now it makes a quick 
passage through the Suez Canal, and so India helps to sup- 
ply Europe with bread (Fig. 14). Ships from New York 
travel over 13,000 miles, by way of the Straits of Magellan, 
to reach San Francisco ; but the journey 



is only one-half as long since the Panama 
Canal was completed in 1915. 

More freight is carried on the Great 
Lakes of Xorth America than on any 
other lakes of the world. Kivers are 
not worn out by transportation as rail- 
roads are, but just as rails and ties must 
frequently be replaced by new ones, so 
many rivers must be dredged now and 
then to keep the water deep enough for 
large steamboats. Lake, river, and canal 
freight charges are cheaper than those 
of the railroads, but it is so desirable to 
save time in transportation that they lose 
much importance as trade routes after 
railroads are built. They are used mostly 
to transport heavy and bulky articles, 
such as grain, coal, iron ore, and lumber. 
Canals are a very slow means of transpor- 
tation, and are now important chiefly in 
the countries of north Europe fronting 
on the Baltic Sea, where they connect the navigable rivers, 
so that boats loaded on the Vistula River, near Russia, may 
be taken west to most of the ports of Germany, the Nether- 
lands, Belgium, and France. 

Railroads. — The first really important railroad was 
opened in 1829 in England, when the little locomotive 
Eocket, weighing only 7^ tons, drew 44 tons at a rate of 14 




Fig. 14. 



32 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

miles an hour. The marvelous growth of railroads dates 
from that first success. The railroads now in operation 
would stretch from the earth to the moon and clear back 
again (Fig. 15) ; and two-fifths of all the railroad track is in 



1860 
1870 



■■"■"^^^^■■^^^^DISTANCE OF THE MOON FROM THE EARTH 
■ — EARTH'S CIRCUMFERENCE 



Fig. 15.— Growth of the world's railroads, in thousand miles. 

the United States, where almost every farm east of Ne- 
braska and Texas has a railroad station close at hand or 
only a few miles distant. Many railroads, extending in all 
directions, enable the producer to send his goods to the 
market where he may obtain the highest prices, or to the 
seaport that offers the cheapest rail and ocean freight rates. 
This is a great commercial advantage. Cheap rail and 
water freights, for example, have sometimes attracted to 
our Gulf ports large quantities of grain that would other- 
wise be shipped from Atlantic ports. 

The telegraph. — The American who has cotton to sell 
wishes to know, every day, the price of cotton in Liverpool, 
as the quotations there regulate the price of cotton in every 
country in the world. The farmer needs to know the price 
of wheat or cattle at the chief markets so that he may ship 
his commodities where they are most valuable. This is the 
greatest advantage to commerce of the telegraph which 
flashes news all over the world by electricity. A network 
of wires is spread over the lands, and more than 285,000 



HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 33 

miles of ocean cable-lines unite all the continents, so that 
merchants in Chicago and Berlin may transact their mutual 
business affairs almost as conveniently as though they lived 
in the same town; and merchants who are separated by 
1,200 miles of land may converse over the telephone. The 
movements of ships and trains and the buying and selling 
of goods are directed to a large extent by wire. Wireless 
telegraphy, also, is becoming very important. It is bringing 
us news of ships in danger, far out at sea. 

The post-office. — Letters and other mail matters have 
been cai'ried by the governments of civilized countries for 
nearly 400 years. For three centuries the post was looked 
upon, first of all, as a good way to raise money for govern- 
ment purposes; very high rates were charged, therefore, 
for carrying the mails. In the nineteenth century, states- 
men began to see that the post was very important to busi- 
ness ; they began to establish thousands of new post-offices, 
and to sell postage-stamps cheaper, till to-day the service 
in most countries is convenient and rapid and cheap. 

Fairs. — In countries where the means of communica- 
tion are poor, it is not easy for merchants to travel to the 
places where goods are made in order to provide themselves 
with the wares they sell. It is more convenient to visit 
some central place where, at fixed times, great collections 
of goods are offered for sale. This is the reason why large 
fairs or markets were held for centuries in western Europe, 
and why they are still neld in Eussia, Jerusalem, Mecca, 
and other cities of Asia. Hundreds of thousands of per- 
sons attend the famous fair at Nizhni-Novgorod in Eussia, 
where millions of dollars are paid every year for merchan- 
dise coming from all parts of Eussia, Siberia, and Central 
Asia. These fairs lose their importance when railroads, 
telegraphs, and commercial travelers become numerous. 

Weights and measures. — Sellers and buyers can deal justly 
with one another only when the weight or the measure 
of the goods sold is known so that the buyer may receive 



34 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

exactly what he pays for, neither more nor less. Weights 
and measures must be fixed and unchangeable or trade can 
not be carried on honestly. Over 80 years ago our Govern- 
ment found that the weights and measures in our custom- 
houses were not quite the same ; Congress, therefore, " fixed 
the standard of weights and measures," as our Constitution 
gives it the power to do ; since then, weights and measures 
have been uniform throughout the country. 

It is a great convenience when different countries use 
the same standards, for then they speak the same language 
as far as weights and measures are concerned. Some bridge- 
makers in Norway, recently desiring to have iron bridge 
pieces made for them in England, gave the sizes needed in 
terms of the metric system of measurements. The English 
manufacturers asked them to give the sizes in British feet 
and inches, but the Norwegians declined to do so, and sent 
their work to Belgium. Most Christian nations now use 
the metric system of weights and measures which France 
invented. Our country may, some day, drop its present 
standards and use the metric system. 

Money. — Trade is carried on with barbarous peoples by 
means of barter, which is the exchange of one commodity 
for another ; thus the Canadian Indians exchange their furs 
for guns and blankets. But commerce grows beyond the 
stage of barter, and then a medium of exchange is needed 
— something which we willingly receive in payment for the 
goods or labor we sell and with which we may buy whatever 
its value will purchase. Anything used as a medium of 
exchange is money. Tobacco in Virginia, codfish in New- 
foundland, and hides in California were once used as money ; 
cowrie shells are still used as money in many parts of Africa ; 
such forms of money are too bulky to be easily carried. 
The best kinds of money are those that may easily be pre- 
served and transported, and that every one readily accepts. 
Gold and silver have these advantages, and also copper to 
a smaller extent. They have, therefore, been used as money 




c .S -o w 

00 OJ P . 

c "- S c . 

2-5.5 = § 

c C S c y 

E cc O -- o 

c c a> ir o 

t; o 2 3^-3 

I £'5 if 

M-? S 2 "3. 

p"^ ?£« 

o § 8 g n 
o g c -^ r^ 



O OJ OJ ac ^ 
<^^ ? C C 

-sc S-2S 
o 9 c fc 3 



S«i3 =3- 

OB '•<-' 



^2rt5c 
o 



-2 bi<ui; § 






C.5 S'^-^ 

5 "^ "S — s 

O ^ C5 O - 
'. 0) «^ J, 



35 



36 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

from early times. The edges of gold and silver coins have 
long been rihbed or milled to prevent persons from clipping 
off part of the metal. Gold is the best money in the world 
because its value is always about the same. Paper money 
is used for convenience in place of coins, but bank-bills 
simply represent coin and have value only because the 
government or the bank issuing them will some day redeem 
them in coin. 

Consuls. — Merchants and manufacturers of one country 
have large business interests in other lands. Every nation, 
therefore, sends consuls to many other countries to look 
after the interests and rights of their countrymen. Consuls 
send home a great deal of information about the kinds of 
goods that can be sold and the best way to prepare them 
for foreign markets. 

Coloiiies.^Many nations possess lands in foreign coun- 
tries, called colonies. The Philippines and Porto Eico are 
colonies of the United States (Fig. 16). Colonies are of 
great value to the mother country in various ways. Nearly 
all colonies are cheap producers of raw materials, such as 
tobacco, rubber, ivory, and spices, a large part of which are 
sent to the mother country ; the colonies usually buy more 
manufactures from the mother country than from any other 
nation. Por these reasons, the European powers have ac- 
quired colonies in all parts of the world. Because such 
products as dy.ewoods, quinin, spices, gums, and a few 
others usually come to the great countries from the colo- 
nies, they are called colonial products in the trade. 

The United States, in 1916, purchased from Denmark 
three islands in the Virgin Group, West Indies — St. 
Thomas, St. John and Santa Cruz. 



CHAPTER V 

THE UNITED STATES 

Cereals and the trade in them. 

The Tlnited States produces the farm crops both of cool 
and warm climates. — As it is one of the largest countries in 
the worlds extending far into the cool north and also far 
into tlie warm souths with great variety of climate, it pro- 




FiG. 17.— Rainfall in the United States. 



duces nearly every kind of commodity it needs. This great 
advantage is possessed only by countries like the United 
States, Australia, and the ITussian and Chinese Empires, 

37 



38 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 




while the smaller countries of Europe must buy from for- 
eign countries large quantities of breadstuifs and meat, as 
they can not raise all the food they need. They must buy 
also a great deal of foreign cotton, iron, and other raw sub- 
stances for their industries, because the home supply is not 
sufficient or is entirely lacking. 

Rainfall. — Good crops require at least 18 or 20 inches of 
rain, and as only the east half of the United States and a 
narrow strip along the Pacific coast have abundant rain- 
fall, most of the 6,000,000 farms are in the east half of the 
cou.ntry. Observe in Fig. 17 the humid regions where 

there is plenty of rain for the 
crops, the subarid zone — a belt 
of prairie about 200 miles wide 
— where there is rain enough for 
crops only one or two 3^ears in 
five; and the arid or very dry 
regions, where a little farming is 
possible only by leading water 
from streams or wells over the 
neighboring lands (irrigation). 
Most of the people live in the 
humid regions. 

Farm crops. — All the vegeta- 
ble products raised on farms or 
in gardens were once wild plants. 
By centuries of cultivation they 
have been greatly improved in 
size and in all qualities that 
make them useful to man as 
food. America gave maize, the potato, the tomato, pump- 
kin, and tobacco to the world. These and some other 
plants were not known in Europe till the explorers of the 

* These are the great cereals of the temperate zones. Rice is the 
great cereal of tropical and sub-tropical regions. Millet, buckwheat, 
and other cereals are raised in far smaller quantities. 



OATS 3137 



WHEAT 3026 



MAIZE 3185 




Fig. 18.— The world's crop of ce- 
reals in million bushels (average 
of three recent years),* 



40 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



western world took them across the sea. The cereals have 
come from useful wild grasses whose seeds, enlarged and 
improved by tillage, are now the vegetable food of great- 
est importance, and hence the largest product of the farms 
in every country (Fig. 18). 

The United States is the leading producer and exporter 
of cereals and the chief source from which Europe derives 
its foreign breadstuffs. 

Wheat. — Wheat, which is more widely distributed over 
the world than any other grain except barley, is the most 
important of all the cereals (Fig. 19). Wheat contains 
more nutriment than any of the other cereals, and is there- 
fore the most valuable as an article of food. It thrives in 
all temperate climates, in southern Russia as well as in Ar- 
gentina, and in very warm countries, of which northern 
India is an example, the crop is grown in winter instead of 

summer. Indeed, so general is 
the growth of this grain that 
farmers are cutting it in some 
parts of the world every month 
of the year. The Australian 
farmers export their wheat half 
round the world to Europe, and, 
in spite of the cost of trans- 
portation, they find this profit- 
able, as they harvest their crops 
in the European winter when 
the price of wheat is highest. 

As it is the chief grain eaten 
by the white races, who lead and 
make the world's commerce, the 
trade in wheat is larger than in 
any other cereal. 

The use of wheat as an article 
of human food is now growing in India, China, and Japan 
and other rice-eatinsr countries, while in 




Fig. 20. —Wheat crop in million 
bushels (average of three years, 
1905-7). 



France, where 



THE LTXITED STATES 



41 



forty years ago the peasants ate rye breads the use of ^lieat 
flour has become general. 

Our country raises nearly one-fifth of the wheat crop of 
the world (Fig. 20). It is grown everywhere, from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, but the rich level prairie lands 






\WHEAT\ L: \ 

^:iUO JUO m^ SCALE! :48,0.00,000\ ^ f \)~ 




• Shipping PoTlj. 
Six Ports irporting mo. 

order of importan 

,maHifmost/iou 



Fig. 21. — Observe the chief wheat-shipping ports and the cities producing most flour . 
While wheat is grown in many States, the areas of largest production are com- 
paratively small. Eastern farm-lands can not now compete in wheat-raising with 
the low-priced prairies of the Northwest. The plump kernel winter wheat is 
grown in the Central and Southern States. Hard spring wheat of the upper Mis- 
sissippi Valley, the wheat of export, is the best for many purposes ; its price regu- 
lates the world's wheat markets and it makes the best flour. 

The railroads carrying most of the great wheat crop of the Central West converge 
mainly upon Chicago, Minneapolis, Duluth, Superior, St. Louis, and Kansas City. 



v.iiich extend from Minnesota and the two Dakotas to Kan- 
sas produce the most of it (Fig. 21). From this region 
it is sent in great quantities to our northeastern, southern, 
and Rocky Mountain States, which do not raise enough for 
their own needs. Many kinds of labor-saving machines, 
like the grain-drill, and the combined steam harvester and 



42 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



thrasher, have been invented and are used to cheapen the 
cost of producing and marketing the crops. To such com- 
pleteness has the system of transporting and storing wheat 
been carried that it is not handled except by machinery 
from the time the farmer hauls it in bags to his market 
town. 

Export wheat. — The wheat which is sent out of the coun- 
try, generally called export wheat, is carried by rail or by 
steamers which travel on the Great Lakes or up and down 
the Mississippi to the seaports of the Atlantic, the Pacific, 
and the Gulf of Mexico. To such a science has trans- 
portation been reduced that a bushel of wheat from the 

North Dakota fields can 

be delivered at Liver- 
pool at a cost of only 
20 cents for freight. 
Cheap production, 
therefore, by reason of 
the low price of our 
prairie lands and the 
richness of the soil, 
combined with the 
many American inven- 
tions for cheap hand- 
ling and cheap trans- 
portation, make it im- 
possible for British and 
German farmers on 
their high-priced lands 
successfully to compete 
with our wheat. Near- 
ly all the wheat export- 
ed by us as well as by 
other countries finds 
its way to Europe, which is unable to raise enough for its 
own consumption, in spite of the fact that it produces 




Fig. 22.— Export wheat in bags. 
250.000 bushels of wheat at Portland, Ore., in 
bags ready for shipment. Wheat is exported 
in bulk (loose) from Atlantic, and in bags 
from Pacific, ports. 



THE UNITED STATES 43 

itself half of the wheat of the entire world. Eussia. Aus- 
tria-Hungary, and the Balkan States have great wheat re- 
gions whicli supply their own needs, but all the other 
European countries purchase from foreign lands. Of these^ 
Great Britain buys far more than all other countries to- 
gether. Fleets of steamships, laden with wheat, are con- 
stantly leaving our ports for Europe, and it is from the 
United States that the most important supplies of this 
cereal are received (Fig. 22), though the rich black-earth 
lands of southern Russia, the irrigated fields of north India, 
the broad plains of Hungary, tlie pampas lands of Argen- 
tina, as well as the small, scattered wheat areas of Australia, 
send additions for the needs of Europe. The wheat routes 
across the oceans may be traced on Fig. 1. The United 
States crop is now about 700,000,000 bushels a year. 

Wheat flour. — In former times wheat was ground be- 
tween two millstones, and was reduced to flour by this 
simple operation. The grain is now run through several 
sets of porcelain or chilled iron rollers, being gradually 
crushed by a number of grindings and other processes 
which remove all the bran. The flour thus made is much 
superior to the old product. Minneapolis, on the Mississippi 
at the Falls of St. Anthony, is the greatest flour-milling 
city in the world. Its -elevators hold millions of bushels of 
grain collected from the wheat lands near by, its mills 
run night and day, and a single mill often turns out over 
100,000 barrels of flour in a week. About one-third of our 
entire export of wheat has been in the form of flour since 
the new milling processes were introduced. The tropical 
and Oriental countries buy much more flour than raw 
wheat, as they have few flour-mills, and those they have 
are poor and old-fashioned. Great Britain buys more than 
half of the flour sent out of the United States. 

Maize. — The discoverers of America found the Indians 
cultivating and eating a cereal not known in Europe. The 
Spaniards called it maiz (maize), that being its native 



THE UNITED STATES 



45 



name in the West Indies ; the English called it Indian corn. 
Maize is now cultivated wherever the summers supply it 
with all the warmth and moisture it needs (Fig. 23). It 
ripens even in parts of southern Canada^ where the long, 
hot summer days mature it before frost comes; but the 
climate of all north European countries is too cool for 
maize, though it grows in all south European lands. 

Maize is our largest cereal crop. If the whole of Eng- 
land and Scotland were one great corn field, this territory, 
great as it is, would not cover the 
land devoted to raising maize 
in the United States. Four 
States west of the Mississippi — 
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and 
Missouri — and three between 
this river and the Ohio Eiver — 
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois — 
raise the larger part of our 
maize. These States are known 
as the Corn Belt; and although 
they deserve the name from 
the enormous crop, it is worth 
remembering that another bil- 
lion bushels of corn per year 
are raised in other parts of our 
country. Xearly three bushels 
of corn are raised in the United 
States for every bushel that is grown in all other lands (Fig. 
24). Our crop is noAv over 3,000,000,000 bushels a year. 

Maize contains a larger proportion of fats than any 
other cereal, and is the best grain for fattening cattle and 
swine. This is its chief use, though all the peoples who 
raise the grain eat a great deal of it ; thus sweet corn, corn 
bread, and hominy are eaten everywhere in the United 
States, and polenta (Indian-corn mush) is the basis of food 
for the Italian peasantry. The Eum'anians sell their higher- 




FiG. 24. — Maize crop in mil- 
lion bushels (average of three 
years). 



46 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

priced wheat and eat maize, but the nations which import 
maize feed nearly all of it to their live stock. A large part 
of our great crop is fed to hogs and cattle, and thus con- 
verted into pork and beef; in other words, most of the 
maize we export is not sent across the ocean in the form of 
grain, but in the condensed form of meats, which is a very 
profitable way of selling the maize crop. 

Maize ex]ports. — Our total exports of the grain are worth 
only about one-third as much as our wheat and flour ship- 
ments. The reasons for this are interesting. In the first 
place, the price of a bushel of maize is usually less than 
half that of wheat, but it costs as much to carry the maize 
as the wheat. Two bushels of maize landed in England 
are not worth more than one bushel of wheat, and it costs 
twice as much to transport maize as the same value of 
wheat. Then the importing countries use very little maize 
for human food, while they require enormous quantities of 
our wheat and wheat flour for bread. At the same time, 
all the countries of northwest Europe, which can not grow 
maize, need this superior fattening grain to feed to the 
animals they kill for food. These countries and Canada, 
which can not raise enough for her live stock, buy nearly 
all the maize we sell. Great Britain taking almost half of 
it. Rumania, Italy, Eussia, Argentina, and Egypt send 
much smaller quantities to north Europe ; very little is 
sold in other lands. 

These facts and the study of the distribution of maize 
culture in Fig. 23 show that the Atlantic and the Mediter- 
ranean are the great highways for maize exports. 

Oats. — The world usually raises more bushels of oats 
every year than any other cereal, most of the crop being 
used for horse-feed. Each bread-eater consumes about 4|- 
bushels of wheat in a year ; a working horse, if well fed, 
eats about 2 bushels of oats in a week. Nearly the whole 
crop is grown in north Europe, Austria-Hungary, the 
United States, Canada*, and Siberia (Fig. 25). Our coun- 



THE UNITED STATES 



U7 



try, producing one-fourth of the crop, raises oats in every 
State, hut the grain thrives best in a cooler and moister 
climate than wheat requires, most of it being raised a little 
north of the chief wheat regions. The Irish and Scotch 
eat oat-cake and oatmeal porridge, the importance of the 
grain as human food in all countries increasing with the 
larger consumption of prepared cereal foods. Most of our 
export oats and oatmeal are sent to Europe. We raised 
over 1,500,000,000 bushels of oats in 1915. 




GERMANY 443 



FRANCE 254 



Jj^lTAIN St IRELAND 2°^ 
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY |9° 
OTHER COUNTRIES 500 



Fig. 25. — An average oats crop in 
millions of bushels. 




Fig. 26. — An average rye crop in 
millions of bushels. 



Rye. — Eye is cheaper than vrheat and not so nutritious, 
but it is the chief breadstuff among the peasantry of Eussia 
and Germany, which grow more than two-thirds of the 
crop (Fig. 26). As it thrives on the poorer soils, it is a 
large crop on the great sandy plain of north Germany. It 
is not, however, very important in America, where much 
is used in distilling rye whisky. Our small exports go 
almost entirely to northwest Europe, and our crop was 
about 49,000,000 bushels in 1916. 



48 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Barley. — Barley is most used for beer-brewing, though 
north Europe grinds some of it for bread or feeds it to 
horses. No other cereal thrives in so many different climates, 

barley fields being found from 
Norway to Algeria. Russia is 
the largest grower and exporter; 
the crop in Great Britain and 
Germany, where beer-brewing is 
a very large industry, is almost 
as important as that of wheat. 
We send to north Europe all the 
barley we do not use ourselves in 
the manufacture of beer. Our 
crop, 1916, 181,000,000 bushels. 
Buckwheat. — This grain has 
long been a declining crop in the 
United States, where it is grown 
chiefly in New York and Penn- 
sylvania, and is used for buck- 
wheat cakes. Our acreage was 
twice as large thirty-five years 
ago. Eussia, France, and some Alpine districts raise most 
of it ; our small exports go to north Europe. 

Rice. — Rice Is the main food resource of half the popu- 
lation of the world. Most of the people of India and of 
southeast Asia and its islands make rice their chief food. 
Observe in Fig. 28 that this grain is grown wholly in trop- 
ical or warm regions, and that its culture is confined to a 
great many areas, most of which are rather small, though 
the aggregate acreage is even larger than that of wheat. 
The reason for this patchy distribution of rice is that it 
thrives only where there is a great deal of water with which 
the fields may at times be flooded by means of irrigation 
ditches. Its cultivation is therefore restricted to lowlands, 
river valleys, and deltas where the fields may be flooded. 
After the grain is thrashed it is called paddy, being still 




Fig. 27. — Barley crop in mil- 
lion bushels (average of three 
years) . 



60 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

enclosed in the inner husk. After this husk is removed by 
machinery the white grain is the rice of commerce. 

Our southern coastal plain, chiefly in Louisiana and 
Texas, produces about one-half of the rice we consume. 
Our rice-growers are introducing better machinery for cul- 
tivating, thrashing, and grinding rice, and are substituting 
the pump for natural irrigation. These improvements en- 
courage rice-growing. 

Rice exports. — Most of the rice is consumed in the coun- 
tries where it is grown ; it is therefore not so important as 
an export crop as some other grains. It is forbidden by 
law to export rice from China, the largest producer, be, 
cause the Chinese need all they can raise. The paddy 
fields of Burma supply most of the markets of the world 
with rice, the shipments, swelled by smaller supplies from 
Siam, Cochin-China, and Java, moving west through the 
Suez Canal to Europe and America. Rice moves east from 
Cochin-China and Java to supply the deficiency of China 
and the Philippines, and from Hawaii to our Pacific coast ; 
but the great rice movement is from the East to the West. 

Millet. — One of the grasses whose seed yields a very 
nutritious flour is millet. . It is grown in the United States 
and Europe chiefly for hay, but the seed is the chief food 
of many millions of people in India, China, Japan, and 
some other Asiatic countries. It thrives in the drier re- 
gions of the interior where rice will not grow ; thus more 
millet than rice is eaten on the uplands of inner India, 
while rice is the chief food along the coasts and in the 
irrigated valleys. Millet has little importance as an export 
crop. 

Summary. — The facts in this chapter show that, among 
all the cereals, wheat has overwhelming importance in the 
export trade ; that maize is exported chiefly in the form 
of meat ; and that the cereals of the temperate zones have 
far more importance in the export trade than those of the 
warm climates which are consumed chiefly at home. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE UNITED ST ATES-iContinued) 

Other vegetable food products, beverages, tobacco, and the trade in 

them. 

TJtiliziiig vegetation. — The more that plants are studied 
the more uses are found for them. Many marshy places in 
the Xorth are covered with sedge that was supposed to be 
worthless, but sedge was found to supply an excellent fiber 
from which twine, rugs, and other things are made. The 
useless sedge is now a source of wealth, because the valu- 
able thing in it has been discovered. 

Many barks, roots, gums, and Juices supply millions of 
dollars worth of products every year. Ipecac and sarsa- 
parilla, yielding drugs; the sugar-beet, supplying sugar; and 
manioc, from which tapioca is made — are among the roots 
that furnish chemicals, drugs, or food ; they have therefore 
a place in commerce. The bark of an oak-tree supplies 
corks ; witch-hazel and cinchona (quinin) barks furnish 
medicines; hemlock bark is used for tanning leather; 
many other barks have a place in trade because their use- 
fulness is now known. Camphor is distilled from the wood 
of the camphor-tree. The juices of various trees yield tur- 
pentine, resin, tar, or rubber. We can not say that any 
plant is useless ; if it seems so it may be only because we 
have not learned how to use it. This chapter will tell of 
the uses of some other important plants. 

Sugar. — The nutritive value and enjoyable flavor of sugar 
make it a desirable food. As about 11 million tons are 
consumed every year, sugar-making is one of the great indus- 

51 



52 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



tries. The English-speaking peoples consume more sugar 
than any others. Each of ns eats about 75 pounds a year, the 
United States leading the world as a sugar-consumer. All 
the wheat we sell to other lands does not pay for the sugar 
we buy from them. 

Most sugar is made from the juice of the sugar-cane or 
sugar-beet. For three centuries nearly all of it was made 
by slave labor from sugar-cane in the hot regions of the 
West Indies and South America. Then a wonderful 
change occurred. It was found, seventy years ago, that sugar 
might be made from varieties of the beet growing in tem- 




FiG. 29.— Average cane-sugar crop in two years (1905-6). 
In thousand tons. 



perate climates; in 1902 the beet supplied three-fifths of all 
the sugar. Some interesting facts are now observed : Cane 
sugar is again on more than even terms with beet sugar 



THE UNITED STATES 



53 



in total amount of production ; but tlie increase in the 
supply due to the sugar-beet has reduced the price one-half 
in thirty years ; sugar is no longer made by slave labor. 

Cane-sugar. — Sugar-cane (Fig. 23) thrives in our South- 
ern States near the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana producing 
the largest crop; but other lands yield far greater supplies, 
Cuba, Java, and Hawaii being most important (Fig. 29). 
Sugar-cane planters made fortunes till cheap beet-sugar in- 
vaded the markets. Many islands, as Eeunion, Mauritius, 
and Barbados, raising little but sugar-cane, have suffered 
severely from this competition. It is not wise to depend 
upon one product 
alone : there is great 
distress if the single 
industry upon which 
a people rely is crip- 
pled. 

Beet-sugar. — 
The s u g a r-beet 
thrives in our 
Northern States, 
and, though the in- 
dustry is new here, 
already supplies 
about two-fifths of 
the sugar we make. 
The largest pro- 
ducers are Califor- 
nia and Michigan. Xorth and central Europe make most of 
the vast supply of beet-sugar (Fig. 23). Sugar is so 
nutritious that Germany makes nearly as much in war as 
in peace times, and is the largest grower, France, Austria, 
and Russia following as very large producers (Fig. 30) . One 
advantage of the sugar-beet is that dairy-farming thrives 
wherever it is raised, beet-tops and pulp being excellent 
fodder for cattle. 




Fig. 30.— Beet-sugar crop in year 1908-9. 
In thousand tons. 



54 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Sugar-making. — The juice of the cane is obtained by 
crushing the stalk between rollers, that of the beet by 
slicing the root or reducing it to pulp by machinery and 
then pressing it or soaking it in warm water with which 
the juice mingles ; the water is then evaporated and the 
sugar crystallizes. This is raw sugar, brown or yellow in 
color, made on the farm. 

Eaw sugar is sent in bags or hogsheads to refineries, 
where it is purified, and is white when ready for market. 
Most sugar is refined in large establishments that turn out 
an enormous product. The refineries in our large seaports 
draw upon all sources for raw cane-sugar, and also buy a 
part of the raw beet-sugar of Europe. 

Molasses. — A small part of the sugar does not crystallize, 
but forms a sirup that is prepared for market on the plan- 
tations (West Indies or New Orleans molasses) or in re- 
fineries (sugar-house molasses or sirup). 

Maple-sugar. — The* sap of the sugar-maple yields maple- 
sugar, produced mostly in Vermont, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio, and Canada. It loses its peculiar flavor if 
refined. It is decreasing in supply, as many maple groves 
are being cleared for farming purposes. 

The trade in sugar. — Sugar is the largest import into the 
United States, the only leading nation that still consumes 
more cane- than beet-sugar. All the raw cane-sugar of 
Hawaii, most of the West Indies supply, and a great deal 
from South America, chiefly Brazil,, are sent to our re- 
fineries, while the sugar islands of the Dutch East Indies 
also swell the receipts. All the greatest cane-sugar routes 
converge upon the United States, excepting two, one of 
which is from the West Indies to England and the other 
from the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands. England 
buys most of the export beet-sugar, being the great foreign 
market of the neighboring producers. 

Vegetables.— Vegetables are too bulky and heavy in pro- 
portion to value to have a great part in international trade 



THE UNITED STATES 



55 



except between neighboring countries. The largest move- 
ment is from the warmer to the cooler regions, our South- 
ern States, for example, sending garden truck to the North 
before vegetables mature there ; for the same reason we 
buy early potatoes and onions from Bermuda ; Algeria 
sends many shiploads of vegetables to France. Gardening 
is a large industry near cities ; growers as far away as 
Florida contribute to New York vegetable markets. Ger- 
many raises more potatoes than any other country. This 




^iG. 31.— Potato-field in Colorado. 



is the most important vegetable ; it is a larger part of the 
food of the German and Irish peasantry than of any other 
people (Fig. 31). England imports millions of dollars worth 
of beans and peas. Latin- American countries have a large 
trade in the black bean (frijole), a staple food there. 

Fruits. — Fast transport and cold storage make it possible 
to send fresh fruits long distances. England receives fresh 
grapes from Cape Colony and peaches from New Zealand 
by the time its own fruit-trees are budding. California 
sends fruits to compete with the grapes, pears, and peaches 
of the Atlantic coast. The fruits of warm countries, such 



56 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



as the orange (Fig. 32), lemon, banana (Fig. 28), and pine- 
apple, are sent by shiploads to cooler countries ; also dried 
fruits of warm climates, as currants, raisins, dates (Fig. 28), 




Ftg. 32.— Orange grove in southern California. 

and figs ; and the pickled fruit of the olive-tree which grows 
in Mediterranean lands. Apples, most important in the 
export trade of cool countries, are one-third of our fruit 
exports. 

Some tropical foods. — Some other food products of trop- 
ical countries are important in commerce. Sago, a mealy 
food prepared from the soft inner portion of the sago- 
palm, is a staple article of diet in hundreds of islands 
where it grows (Fig. 28). Northern countries import it as 
a table delicacy. Tapioca, used in puddings, is prepared 
from the starch of the manioc-root, which is the chief food 
of millions of people in tropical America and Africa. It is 



THE UNITED STATES 5t 

brought to us from Brazil, Africa, and the East Indies. 
Arrowroot, esteemed as food for infants and invalids, conies 
to our ports from the West Indies and South America. 
Breadfruit is the fruit of a tree growing in the South Seas, 
where it is a large article of food ; roasted, it is similar to 
bread in flavor (Fig. 28). 

Nuts. — If all other sources of food were cut off, the most 
of mankind could support life on nuts. Many Italian 
peasants subsist almost wholly on boiled chestnuts, which are 
also important as food in France. In uncivilized countries 
nuts are a large food resource. The cocoanut palm, fringing 
many warm seacoasts, loves the sea and does not thrive far 
from it. Under the large leaves at its top grow bunches 
of nuts which are the daily food of millions of people in 
the East Indies and the Pacific. Our bakers and confec- 
tioners buy large quantities. The meat of the cocoanut, 
dried in the hot sun, is called copra and is sent to many 
ports, where the oil is pressed out and used to make soap. 
Observe in Fig. 19 that the cocoanut grows in the south of 
Florida, half of our supply coming from that State. About 
two-thirds of the almonds we eat are grown in Florida, the 
Mediterranean countries supplying the remainder. Our 
Southern peanuts fill the home demand. African and East 
Indian peanuts (ground nuts) are sent by the thousands of 
tons to Marseilles, where the oil is expressed and used for 
soap-making and a substitute for olive-oil. Brazil nuts 
from Brazil and walnuts and filberts from Europe are im- 
ported in large quantities. So it is easily seen that nuts 
are quite important in commerce. 

Spices. — Most spices come from islands of the Malayan 
Archipelago, and are shipped from Singapore. About half 
the total trade is in black and white pepper (Fig. 23). The 
home of red peppers (Chile and Cayenne peppers) is South 
America, but they are now grown in many hot countries. 
Cinnamon, the aromatic inner bark of the cinnamon-tree, 
is dried in the sun and exported from Ceylon and Java. 



THE UNITED STATES 



59 



Much of the so-called cinnamon sold in our stores is a 
coarser variety (cassia) grown in China. The nutmeg is 
the kernel of a fruit growing mainly in the Banda Islands ; 
its fleshy covering is the mace of commerce. The United 
States is the largest customer for cloves, the dried buds of 
the clove-tree, most of which comes from the islands of 
Pemba and Zanzibar, near 
the east coast of Africa. 
Pimento or allspice, the 
berry of an evergreen tree, 
is shipped chiefly from Ja- 
maica. The best ginger is 
grown in Jamaica, but large 
supplies also come from In- 
dia, China, and West Afri- 
ca, ginger ranking next to 
pepper in importance. 

Coffee. — The roasted cof- 
fee bean (Fig. 33), ground 
and boiled in water, makes 
one of the most widely used 
beverages in Xorth America 
and north Europe. About 
three-fifths of the crop 
comes from plantations in 
Brazil. The United States 
is the greatest coffee-drink- 
ing country, nearly ten 




Fig. 34.— Gathering coffee in Brazil. 



pounds being annually consumed here for every man, 
woman, and child in the country. By far the largest 
stream of coffee exports flows north from Brazil; the 
stream divides in the Atlantic, three-fifths of it coming 
to the United States and two-fifths going to the ports 
of England and the North Sea. Another large stream 
flows from Java and Sumatra, is swelled by smaller sup- 
plies from India and Arabia (Mocha), and passes through 



60 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



the Suez Canal and on to north Europe and the United 
States (Fig. 34). 

Tea. — About one-half of the human race drink tea (Fig. 
33), the dried leaf of the evergreen tea-bush, which is 
cultivated mainly in parts of India and southeastern Asia, 
v/here there is abundant rain. It is a garden crop in China, 
ihe largest producer, where the leaf is cured by hand. The 
various kinds of tea are due to differences in the size of 




Fig. 35. — Approximate annual yield of coffee, tea, and cacao. 

the leaf, the season of picking, and methods of preparing 
and mixing. The best Chinese teas are kept at home for 
the consumption of the wealthy. Eussia buys enormous 
quantities of fine leaf, which is carried on camels by thou- 
sands of tons to Siberia, where it is transported by wagon 
or rail to the Russian markets. Eussia also buys inferior 
teas pressed into bricks (brick-tea). The large plantations 
of India and Ceylon permit the use of machinery in tea- 



THE UNITED STATES 



61 



curing, which is an advantage. Black tea is the chief prod- 
uct, as it is preferred by British consumers. Green tea is a 
great export from Japan and Formosa, three-fourths of the 
crop being sent to the United States, which prefers green 




Fig. 36. — The cacao-tree and its fruit. 



tea. As nine-tenths of the export tea is consumed by Eng- 
lish-speaking peoples and Eussia, the tea routes are by sea 
to the British Isles, Xorth America, Australia, and South 
Africa, and by land to Central Asia and Eussia. Much of 



62 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

our tea crosses from Japan and China to the Pacific coast 
ports (Fig. 35). 

Cacao. — Ecuador, Sao Thome and Brazil supply most of 
our cacao (Fig. 33), but Africa is a growing source. Choco- 
late is made by roasting, crushing, and flavoring the large 
nutritive seeds that are embedded in the fruit of the cacao- 
tree (Fig. 36). The decoction cocoa, made from the dried 
and powdered seed kernels, is a wholesome and nutritious 
drink, valued in many lands, and regarded in Spain as sec- 
ond only to wine. Chocolate and cocoa are manufactured 
in the United States. Their use is rapidly extending. 

Mat6. — Yerba mate (the mate herb, also called Paraguay 
tea) is a shrub growing wild in the forests of Paraguay 
and in neighboring districts of Brazil (Fig. 33). The stim- 
ulating decoction, made from the withered leaves, is drunk 
without sugar. It is regarded as an excellent substitute 
for tea, and is a large article of commerce in Paraguay, 
Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and Bolivia. 

Wine. — There are other beverages containing sugar or 
starch which, by fermentation, are changed into alcohol. 
Wine, the most important among them, is the fermented 
juice of the grape, the common beverage of France and 
south Europe, where the cheapest qualities are sold for a 
few cents a gallon. France is the greatest wine land in 
the world, followed by Italy and Spain (Figs. 33 and 109). 
Our country produces most of the wine it consumes, Cali- 
fornia supplying half of it, with New York, Ohio, and some 
other States yielding large supplies. 

Europe and the Orient buy California wine, but we im- 
port far larger quantities of the European vintages, half 
of the imports being champagne from France. Though 
France is the greatest wine-producer, she imports more 
than any other country, partly on account of her immense 
consumption and also because she buys much Spanish and 
Algerian wine to rnix with her cheaper qualities. Great 
Britain, unable to raise the grape, is the second largest im- 



THE UNITED STATES 63 

porter, bii3'ing four times as nmeh foreign wine as we im- 
port. Most of the export movement is from the Continent 
of Europe to all parts of the world. 

Beer. — Germany was the largest producer of beer, the 
United States was second, and Great Britain third. Beer, 
the most common alcoholic beverage north of the wine 
lands, is made from barley which is changed into malt by 
the partial germination of the seed converting the starch 
into sugary matter; hops and water are added, and the 
mixture is fermented. Each northern country makes nearly 
all the beer it consumes, the quantity it imports being very 
small in comparison with its production. The amount of 
beer produced is nearly twice that of wine. 

Distilled spirits. — The sugar or starch of various fruits, 
grains, and vegetables may be converted into alcohol by 
fermentation, the alcohol being then extracted by distilla- 
tion. Germany and France use enormous quantities of 
potatoes to make alcohol, which every year is becoming 
more useful in the industries as fuel for engines, an illumi- 
nant, and for other purposes. Alcohol is the intoxicating 
part of all fermented and distilled beverages. Brandy is 
distilled from wine or fruits, the largest quantity being 
produced in southwest France, which sends us nearly all 
our imports. Whisky is distilled mainly from fermented 
rye and maize ; rum from the fermented juice of the sugar- 
cane in the West Indies, or molasses in New England ; and 
gin from various grains flavored with the juniper-berry. 

Hops. — The chief use of hops is in beer-making, the crop 
being grown largely in north and central Europe and the 
United States. England and Germany raise half the crop. 
We import German hops but export three or four times as 
much of our domestic product to England. 

Tobacco. — The United States is the largest grower of 
tobacco, which has a very wide range, being raised in both 
the temperate and the torrid zone (Fig. 19). The various 
qualities are due to differences in climate and soil. The 



64 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



leaf known as Havana tobacco, grown solely in the west 
part of Cuba, is famous for its distinctive aroma, and is 
used only for cigars ; the mild tobacco of Europe is best 
adapted for the pipe ; the best tobacco of the Philippines, 
grown in the north of Luzon, makes cigars that are as 
popular in the Orient as Havana cigars are in the West; 

Sumatra's fine, bright 
leaf is imported to our 
country for cigar wrap- 
pers ; Turkey's yellow 
leaf with a peculiar aro- 
ma is most used in ciga- 
rettes. India is the 
second largest producer 
(Fig. 37). 

Our country grows 
tobacco in many States 
(Fig. 37 a). Most of the 
leaf used for cigars is 
grown in the Northern 
States; most of the 
smoking, chewing, and 
cigarette tobaccos are 
grown and manufac- 
tured in the larger to- 
bacco area, which ex- 
tends from Kentucky to 
Virginia, and from cen- 
tral Ohio to North Carolina. As tobacco is very valuable 
in proportion to bulk and weight, its owners can afford to 
pay freight charges on it for long distances; so the raw 
leaf is sent all over the country to thousands of large and 
small factories, where it is turned into cigars. 

The United States is the largest exporter of tobacco, 
most of it going to Europe in the form of unmanufactured 
leaf. Few cigars are exported. Our purchases of Havana 




Fig. 37.— a tobacco-field. 



THE UNITED STATES 



66 





I \ \y TOBACCO 

I '; / ^= LargtsI Productio 



A.— Tobacco in the United States. 



leaf and cigars, Sumatra leaf, and Egyptian cigarettes are 
so large that the imports into this country are greater than 
the exports. England is 
the largest importer of to- 
bacco, nine-tenths of its 
supply coming from the 
United States. 

All countries derive 
large sums of money to 
support the government 
by placing a high tax on 
tobacco ; some countries, 
as France and Spain, 
permit no one to manu- 
facture tobacco unless a large price is paid to the govern- 
ment for the privilege. This is called a government 
monopoly. 

Opium. — The juice obtained by pricking the seed vessel 
of the white poppy, after being dried, is the opium of com- 
merce. It is used chiefly as a narcotic, inducing sleep or 
stupor. Opium is a government monopoly in India, where 
immense quantities are grown to sell in China to the mil- 
lions of persons smoking it. In 1906 China prohibited the 
cultivation of opium in the Empire and adopted measures 
gradually to abolish the practice of opium smoking. These 
measures are due to the injurious effects of the drug. 

Hay. — The value of the hay grown in the United States 
is equal to that of the wheat crop. Very little is exported. 
Timothy, clover, alfalfa and other cultivated or wild grasses 
are cured for winter provender. Alfalfa is adding greatly to 
our supply of hay and grazing. When it grows well it yields 
twice the value of hay per acre that clover or timothy pro- 
duce. It increases fertility by adding nitrogen to the soil, 
thrives best in irrigated valleys from Kansas to Oregon, does 
well in our Southern and is increasing in our Eastern 
States. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE UNITED STATES-iContinued) 
Animals used for food and some other animal products. 

Domestic animals raised for food. — Cattle, hogs, and 
sheep provide most of the world's meat-supply (Fig. 10). 
We do not see many cattle and sheep grazing on the farms 
near our cities because land there is too costly to be de- 
voted to large grass- and hay-crops ; cheap pasture lands are 
required where cattle- and sheep-raising are the largest in- 
dustries ; plenty of cheap maize or other fattening food is 
also required to prepare cattle and hogs for market. This 
is the reason why the United States, with its wide-spread- 
ing prairies and plains and its great corn belt, is the largest 
source of meat-supply in the world. The other largest 
sources are the downs of Australia and the pampas of 
South America. A large part of densely peopled Europe 
depends upon these three sources for most of the meat it 
imports. Crowded Japan can produce A^ery little meat. 

Preserving meats. — It would not be worth while to 
carry meat thousands of miles to market if it could not be 
kept from spoiling. The most common practise for pre- 
serving it since 1875 has been to chill or freeze the meat 
(refrigeration) in cars, on shipboard, or in the storehouses 
where it is kept for sale. Fresh meat sent from the 
United States to Europe is merely chilled, but it is neces- 
sary to freeze it in crossing the tropics from South Amer- 
ica or Australia. Before meat was refrigerated, Argentina 
raised cattle and sheep chiefly for hides, tallow, and wool, 
the meat being thrown away. Refrigeration has made our 
66 



THE UNITED STATES 



6' 



liog-packing season twelve months long; it has also ex- 
tended the markets for poultry and fish; fresh salmon from 
the Pacific coast^ as an example^ is sold in the Atlantic 
markets. 

Meat is also preserved hy canning it in air-tight tins, or 
b}^ salting or pickling it. A great deal of beef in Argentina 
and Uruguay is pressed to extract the juices, salted, and 
dried in the sun. This is jerked beef, which is eaten in 
large quantities in South America and the West Indies. 

Cattle. — There are very nearly as many cattle in the 
United States as men, women, and children (Fig. 38). Xo 




lOj 05 85 75 05 

CATTLE IX THE UNITED STATES 

SCALE, 1:48,000,000 

__ k 






h 



Chitf froduclioH •/ b<t/ ealllt. 
^^ Chief f^roduetioH of dairy yroductt. 
Si StaUi froducinf most Uie callU tiporta 
9 Chii/ bit/ /Jacking eitits. 
• SmalUr Utf packing cilitl. 
Ch,._' <aUU ranch Halt, undtrtconj thus: TEX. 




Fig. 38. 

other countr}', except India, has half so many. As most 
of the people of India eat no meat, they raise cattle chiefly 
for hides and draft purposes. In countries where transpor- 
tation from the pastures is very poor, as in parts of South 
Russia, South Africa, Venezuela, and Colombia, only the 
hides and tallow are saved : l)ut in the Ignited States nearly 
all cattle are fattened for slaughter or kept for the 
dairy industry. This shows that good and cheap trans- 



68 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



port adds millions of dollars to the value of our herds by 
oijening thousands of markets for all cattle products. 

About one-fourth of the beef cattle are raised in the States 
west of the Mississippi on the great grazing lands, where 
herds of 20,000 belong to a single owner (Fig. 39). Most 
of the cattle are shipped into the corn-belt States for fat- 
tening, though the practise is growing of shipping maize to 
the West, and fattening the animals on the ranges. They 
are then shipped to Chicago, Kansas City, and the other 
mammoth slaughtering centers, the most southern of which, 




Fig. 39.— Cattle-ranch on the Cimarron "River. 



Fort Worth, Texas, has built up a large meat packing 
industry (Fig. 40). 

Many hundreds of towns and cities throughout the 
country have cold-storage houses, to which the beef is sent 
in refrigerated cars. Millions of people on the Atlantic 
coast are thus supplied with fresh meat sent to them from 




Fig. 40— C":ittle-yards near the slanehter-houses. 



r 




1 

1 

^^^ - ! 


'1 


1 lEli . >?=^=t5r 




, -.mi 


I^H^ 


I^L^V^^ 


I ■■ 


■ ' ■■' ■ ■■ 


zfl- J: 


^ L 


1 / 


t_ 


mm.~r'w 




IMP" -—;__: 





Fig. 41.— Brkp tn cold storagb. 

A large number of these storehouses have been erected hundreds of miles from the 

meat-packing centers. 



70 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



the West. Man}- live cattle are also sent to the markets of 
the large cities (Fig. 41). 

Swine. — About one-third of the hogs in the world are 
raised in onr country^ more than a third of the immense 
maize crop being turned into lard, hams, and other hog 
products, and thus condensed to about one-fifth of its bulk. 
Germany, Austria-Hungar}^, and Russia, the next largest 
producers, have not so many hogs together as the farmers 
of this country raise. Hogs are killed, dressed, and made 
ready for the chill-rooms at our great packing centers at 




Fig. 42. 

the rate of twenty a minute. The largest number are 
found in the Corn Belt (Fig. 42), and cheap transportation 
has made the industry profitable in the very heart of the 
continent. Though maize is the best fattening food, peas 
are also used in Canada; about the only food for hogs in 
Servia and parts of Germany is acorns and beech-nuts. 

The leading nations are trying to make good use in all 
their industries of what are called waste or by-products. 
Very little goes to waste in our packing houses. Hair is 



THE UNITED STATES ' 71 

sold for mixing mortar, bones are carbonized and sold to 
sugar-refiners or turned into fertilizers, sinews are used for 
glue, small bones for knife-handles, and intestines for sau- 
sage casings. 

Sheep. — Though our country raises sheep more for wool 
than mutton, several millions are slaughtered every year 
at the packing centers, the dressed mutton being distrib- 
uted in refrigerated cars all over the country. 

The export meat trade. — Europe buys most of our animal 
food exports, Great Britain purchasing more than all the 
rest of Europe together. Our country is by far the largest 
source of these supplies, excepting mutton. The hog 
products lead in value ; not many live hogs are exported, 
but our bacon, lard, pork, and hams are in very great de- 
mand. All the important export routes for hog products 
start from the Atlantic ports of the United States and 
Canada. 

Live cattle are most important in cattle exports, though 
fresh beef is a very large item. The United States has 
about three-fourths of the export cattle and beef trade, 
Australia and Canada being the next largest sources of 
supply. 

We consume practically all our mutton at home, though 
we export a considerable number of sheep. Most of Eu- 
rope's great supply of foreign mutton comes from Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand, though Argentina sends more 
than one-third of it. Mutton is therefore carried over 
longer sea routes than most other fresh meats excepting a 
small part of the beef. 

Canned and salted meats find their markets mainly in 
Europe, Latin America, and South Africa. Australia and 
Belgium send millions of frozen rabbits to England. 

Dairy products. — Fig. 38 shows the chief dairying regions 
in our country, Minnesota also being now included among 
the large dairy States. Only cow's milk and its products are 
of large importance in trade, though some cheeses are made 



Y2 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

of goat's and ewe's milk. Mare's milk is used as food in 
inner Asia, and kumiss (mare's milk fermented, a common 
beverage there) is imported into Western countries. 

Milk. — The trade in milk is always the largest where 
towns and cities are most numerous ; thus the most milk is 
sold to direct consumers in our Eastern States. Irish 
farmers pay more attention to exporting butter to England 
than to selling milk, while English farmers, in a land of 
many large cities, sell more milk than butter. Most of the 
condensed milk is prepared in the great dairy States of 
New York, Ohio, and Illinois, but Swiss condensed milk, 
in cans, is also found in our grocery stores. 

Butter and cheese. — The old way of skimming milk to 
get the cream has been largely replaced by a machine called 
a separator, which instantly divides the cream from the 
milk ; neither is most of the butter and cheese now made 
on the farm as formerly, but in factories using machinery 
that turn out better products at a lower cost than by the 
old hand methods. These improvements, and the importa- 
tion of the best milking breeds of Europe to increase the 
value of our dairy stock, have helped to make our country 
the greatest producer of butter and cheese, producing, as it 
does, about one-fourth of the world's supply. 

We consume most of our dairy products and also buy 
many of the finest cheeses of Europe, as the Gruyere and 
Schweizerkase of Switzerland, our largest import ; the Par- 
mesan, made of goat's milk in Italy; the Edam of Holland, 
which is' found in most cheese markets of the world ; the 
Brie and other cheeses of northern Erance, and the famous 
Eoquefort of southern France, made of ewe's milk and 
cured in deep rock cellars. Though Eussia, Germany, 
Great Britain, and France are the largest makers of butter 
and cheese, after the United States, they are also the 
largest buyers, for they make far less than they consume. 
Denmark, with over 1,000 steam butter-factories, exports 
more butter than any other country ; butter, light in color 



THE UNITED STATES 



73 



and salted but little, is sent to England to meet the demand 
there, while the butter sent in cans to Central America is 
yellow and very salt, because the people prefer it so. 
Canada is by far the greatest exporter of cheese. The 
British eat more dairy products, in proportion to popu- 
lation, than any other people, their country being the 
greatest export market for butter and cheese (Fig. 43). 





.lililil'. . 


mm^mm 




1 Sk-**.:^— ^^^ii^^^BWP^ 


I^^^Hb^' 


S^ 



Fig. 43.— a modern bntter-factory. 

Oleomargarine, a substitute for butter, is prepared from 
various animal fats, and may be sold in our country only 
under its own name. It is eaten most largely in Europe, 
the chief producers being the Netherlands and France. 
We sell a considerable quantity to foreign countries. 

Poultry and eggs. — Our country supplies the home de- 
mand for poultry and eggs, but Great Britain imports 
nearly half she consumes, and is the great market for for- 
eign supplies. Fattening chickens for the British market 



74 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

is a thriving industry in Canada and northern France. The 
British Isles import nearly two billion eggs a year, Russia 
being the largest exporter. Danish eggs exported by farm- 
ers' societies are stamped on the shells, and if the eggs are 
inferior the money is refunded by the exporters. 

Fisheries.— Sea fisheries are open to all the world, but 
the nations have agreed to reserve for their own fishermen 
all fishing rights within three miles of their coasts. The 
Grand Banks and other shallow waters near the coasts of 
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are the most important 
fisheries in the world. 

The cod. — The Labrador current, flowing south from the 
arctic regions, brings to these banks (Fig. 44) billions of 
the minute sea plants (algae) that are the favorite food of 
the cod, which is more important in commerce than any 
other fish. Thousands of fishermen from Newfoundland, 
Canada, the United States, and France are constantly cruis- 
ing on the foggy banks in small sailing vessels, catching the 
cod by hand-lines, cleaning and salting them at once, and 
drying them in the sun after returning to port. The other 
largest cod-fisheries are off the Lofoten Islands, Norway, 
and the Dogger Bank in the North Sea (Fig. 45). No 
other fish is sent to so many lands ; in the Roman Catholic 
countries of Europe and America, the people are forbidden 
to eat meat on many days of the year, and they therefore 
buy very large quantities of salted cod. Nearly all the cod 
that enters our ports is consumed at home, fresh cod being 
found in all the large markets, while salted cod, most of it 
coming from Gloucester, Mass. (Fig. 44), our greatest fish- 
ing port, is sold in every grocery store in the country. 

Salmon. — This fish is also very important in inter- 
national trade, canned salmon being sent to all parts of the 
world. The largest fisheries are in the rivers of our north- 
west coast, including Alaska, and in the rivers of British 
Columbia. Great shoals of salmon, entering the rivers from 
the sea to spawn, are caught in nets or traps and taken to 



THE UNITED STATES 



75 



the canning factories; Alaska is the greatest source of 
canned salmon. Many fresh salmon also are sent, frozen, 



^ ^ L A B R%fQ DOR 




lllllll Cod and Halibut Blue Fish 

^ Mackerel ^'f«<^/ 

■ + Herring ......... Menhaden 

__^__ Oyatera 



AND 

CHIEF FISHERIES 

OF THE N.E.UNITED STATES 
AND S.E.CANADA 

SCALE OF MILES 

100 200 300 400 
55 50 



Fig. 44. — The shad (herring family), one of the best American food fishes, is found 
from Florida to the St. Lawrence, and ca-ught in stake nets and seines in many 
rivers which it ascends in the spring to spawn. The shad fisheries of Chesapeake 
Bay and its tributaries are the most valuable, yielding nearly half the product. 
The Delaware estuary, and the Hudson, Connecticut, and Kennebec are important 
shad rivers. Alewives enter many rivers from Maine to Florida, are very cheap, 
and the greater part are salted or smoked. The highly prized bluefish is scat- 
tered widely through the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, but its 
chief commercial importance is along the Atlantic coast of the United States. 
The halibut, a very large fish, is caught with lines on either s''de of the Atlantic, 
but mainly on the Grand Banks in winter and near Greenland and Iceland. The 
menhaden is used very little for food, but a large quantity of oil and fish guano is 
produced from it in factories built for the industry. 



to the Eastern markets. Canned salmon is the largest fish 
export of the United States (Figs. 46, 47, and 48). 

The herring. — This little fish is another enormous prod- 
uct of the fisheries of America and Europe. Figs. 44 and 45 
6 



76 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



show the regions where many millions of them are caught 
in nets. Fishermen along the Maine coast send many 




Fig, 45. 



thousands of boxes of salted or smoked herring to our 
Atlantic ports for distribution through the country. The 



THE UNITED STATES 



77 



smallest herring are packed in oil and sold as sardines, the 
best of them being equal in quality to the true sardine, 
which is one of the most important fish of southern Europe. 
Many Maine canneries put up these sardines which have 
largely taken the place of the imported article. Most of 
the Xorway and British herrings 
are sent salted to other European 
countries. 

Most of our New England catch 
of mackerel is salted, but the fish 
is usually eaten fresh in Europe. 
Our Great Lakes yield whitefish 
and trout, and our small lakes and 
rivers teem with trout, pickerel, 
and other varieties. Though we 
vie with Great Britain for the first 
place among the fishing nations, 
we export very little except canned 
salmon and Maine sardines. Great 
Britain and the West Indies taking 
most of our exports. The sea sup- 
plies much more than one-half, the 
rivers more than one-fifth, and the 
lakes about one-tenth of our fish 
products. 

The oyster. — This is the most 
important shell food and the most 
valuable product of our fisheries, 
being worth about six times as ^m. 46.-A salmon. 

much as all the oyster-fisheries of 

Europe together. Thousands of oyster-boats in Chesa- 
peake Bay and Long Island Sound, where most of our 
oysters are procured, anchor over the beds and take the 
oysters with " tongs ■ ' or dredges from the shallow waters 
where the bivalves lie on the bottom, fattening on the food 
that the tides bring th^m. It has been found that oysters 




7S 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



may be cultivated like a crop of grain, thus insuring an 
unfailing supply. Millions of young oysters are planted 




Fig. 47.— Salmon cannery in Alaska. 



in the Long Island beds, where the supply is constantly 
increasing ; but it is decreasing a little in Chesapeake 




Fig. 48.— Eskimo women cleaning salmon in Alaska. 

Bay, where the natural supply is still the sole reliance. 
We ship many thousands of barrels of oysters to England 
during the fishing season, from September to ApriL 



THE UNITED STATES 79 

The lobster is sent to market alive or canned. Over- 
fishing has so decreased the supply that we now rely on 
Canada and Newfoundland for most of our canned lobster. 
Many men and boys are seen, at low tide, digging clams out 
of the mud and sand along the New England and Long 
Island coasts ; they supply the many thousands of bushels 
of clams in our markets. 

Whales. — Great fortunes were once made in whaling, 
but the industry is now small, because petroleum has 
largely taken the place of whale-oil, and steel, celluloid, 
and rubber are used as substitutes for whalebone. How- 
ever, a few whalers still sail from San Francisco, Glouces- 
ter, and Dundee, Scotland. The best whale-oil comes 
from the sperm whale, usually caught in the warmer parts 
of the ocean. Spermaceti, a white mass found in the head 
cavities of this whale, is used to make sperm candles. The 
right or Greenland whale yields an inferior oil, called train- 
oil, but its most valuable product is the horny fringe of its 
upper jaw or whalebone, which is still worth $10 a pound. 

It has been found that the flesh of some kinds of whales 
and sharks is agreeable and excellent food. It is now served 
in some Pacific coast restaurants. The flavor resembles that 
of beef. 

Key West is the center of our sponge industry, the 
fishing grounds stretching along the south and west coasts 
of Florida. In these shallow waters, and also among the 
Bahama Islands, sponges are torn from the bottom by three- 
pronged forks, the fleshy part is washed away, and the 
sponges are sent in bales to the New York wholesalers. 
The best sponges come from the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, where they are found at depths of 150 to 250 feet, 
and are procured by diving. 

Furs. — The finest furs are found in the cold regions 
where nature provides animals with the thickest coverings. 
Canada, Russia, and Siberia are therefore the large sources 
of valuable furs. About 1,000,000 Siberian gray squirrels 



80 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

are killed every year to supply fur for lining cloaks. Enor- 
mous numbers of rabbit-skins are sent to Europe from 
Australia and 'New Zealand. The muskrat, mink, marten, 
fox, bear, and a few other animals are the sources of Amer- 
ican furs. Hot countries send monkey-skins and the skins 
of large animals, such as the lion and tiger. 

One of the most popular and useful furs is -that of the 
fur-seal, now found mainly on our Pribilof Islands in Alas- 
kan waters, where they creep up on land, in May, to breed. 
Efforts are being made to restore prosperity to this industry, 
which was almost completely ruined by over-hunting. The 
males from two to four years old, having the most even and 
finest fur, are alone killed. The skins are salted, dried, 
packed, and sent to London, where the long hairs are 
plucked out and the fur is dyed and otherwise prepared for 
market. England derives a large part of the profit from 
the fur-seal, as the manufacture is mainly carried on there. 

Most of our felt hats are made from the fur of the rab- 
bit, muskrat, nutria of Argentina, and other animals. 

Fur garments are in more demand in eastern Europe 
than in western Europe and America. Furs from all the 
producing countries are taken to London, which is the 
greatest auction market, and also to Leipzig and to the 
Nizhni Novgorod fair, where manufacturers buy the furs 
of north Eussia and Siberia. Our manufacturers buy most 
of their imported furs from England or Germany ; most of 
the imported fur garments come from France. 

The horse. — Eussia raises nearly one-third of the horses 
of the world. Our country sends a great many horses to 
Europe, particularly to Great Britain, where they are used 
for draft purposes in the cities. The need of cavalry horses 
in the large armies of Europe has led to the breeding of 
horses in Germany, Denmark, and elsewhere, that are spe- 
cially adapted for that service. 

The ostrich. — Forty years ago all the ostrich-feathers 
in the trade were from wild ostriches that were killed for 



THE UNITED STATES 81 

tlieir plumage in parts of South Africa and the Sudan. 
^Lany of the feathers now come from domesticated ostriches 
in Cape Colony; these animals are not killed hut plucked, 
just as sheep are sheared, yielding each about a pound of 
feathers a year. The plumes from the wings and tail are 
sometimes worth $*200 a pound. Ostrich-farming has also 
been introduced into Argentina, and to a small extent into 
California, Florida, and Southern Rhodesia. The Karroo, 
a high dry plateau in South Africa, is the true home of the 
ostrich. Each bird requires about 20 acres. Cattle graze 
on the same land with advantage to the ostrich industry. 
An ostrich yields from one to ten pounds of feathers a year. 
The Karroo bush is a better food for the ostrich than grass. 
As ostrich farmers breed for superior feathers, the quality 
is much superior to that obtained from wild birds. 

Ivory. — The Belgian Congo is the largest source of 
elephant ivory, and x\ntwerp is the largest ivory market. 
Xot only the tusks of the elephant, but also those of the 
dead mammoth found in the frozen soil of Siberia, the 
teeth of the hippopotamus and walrus, and the horn of the 
narwhal, yield ivory, which is used for combs, billiard-balls, 
and other small articles,, many of which are made in the 
United States. 

Vegetable ivory, the seed of a tropical American palm, 
very hard and white and used as a substitute for ivory, is 
sent to this country and others mainly from Ecuador and 
Colombia. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE UNITED STATES-(Con<mwed!) 
Vegetable and animal fibers, their products and the trade in them. 

Cloth.— The clothes of people the world over are made 
of vegetable or animal fibers. It is true that some races, 
like the Eskimos, wear mainly skins and furs, but the men 
who crowd Broadway in business hours are clad in cotton, 
wool, and linen ; and this is true of the farmer, the sailor, 
the woodsman, as well as of the business man ; in fact, it 
is true of civilized man wherever you find him in every 
land and clime. If we add silk to these fibers, we have 
the materials for the charming dresses of the women of 
our country or the belles of France. Some natives of Africa 
weave their short skirts from short grasses, others know 
how to make a durable cloth from a growth which they 
find between the wood and the bark of certain trees. Most 
cloths, however, are made of cotton or wool ; these fibers 
with silk and flax are the four from which are made the 
clothes of nearly all mankind. 

Cotton. — The most important of the fibers is cotton, the 
white, downy substance that surrounds the seeds of the 
cotton-plant. It has won the first place among fibers that 
are woven into cloth called textiles, because it is inex- 
pensive and comfortable to wear. It is easily and cheaply 
grown where the summer is long and hot and the rainfall 
abundant. When the plant matures, the boll containing 
the cotton and the seed opens ; the pickers in our cotton 
fields— usually negroes of all ages, men, women, and children 
82 



THE UNITED STATES 



83 



— go lip and down the rows picking the cotton and putting 
it into bags which hang from the neck or waist. These 
bags, when filled, are taken to the gin (page 20), where the 
seeds are extracted; the cotton is tlien packed into bales 
b}^ means of strong presses, and is ready for market. Ne- 
groes are most numerous in our cotton States, because most 
of the African slaves were originally brought here to work 
in the cotton fields. The United States raised over 11,000,- 
000 bales in 1915. 




Area of Cotton Culture. 
Largest Cotton yield to the^cre 
Cotton Manufacture. i 



Cottim Ship2nng Ports. Eight Chief Porta \ 
* numbered in order of importance. 
o Interior Cotton JUarkets. 

95 



Fig. 



-Cotton in the United States 



Sources of cotton. — When we are told that nearly half 
the people of the world wear cotton cloth made by modern 
machinery, we are not surprised to see (Fig. 19) that cot- 
ton fields girdle the earth in the warmer regions. Our coun- 
tr}^ supplies nearly three-fourths of all the raw" cotton that 
the nations are turning into cloth. Different kinds of cotton 
fiber are used for different purposes, our great cotton belt 
(Fig. 49) producing the two varieties that are best known 
in the world's markets : 



84: ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

1. Long staple sea-island cotton, grown on our islands 
and coast lands, particularly between Charleston and Sa- 
vannah. As sea-island cotton is the longest of all cotton 
fibers, it makes the finest cotton-yarn thread and cloth, and 
therefore commands the highest price. 

2. Upland cotton, a shorter fiber, forming the bulk of 
our cotton crop. As this is adapted for medium and coarse 
fabrics, which are cheap and in great demand, American 
upland is used to make a large part of the cotton fabrics 
of all countries (Fig. 50). The rich Mle delta produces 
the long, fine Egyptian fiber, for which other nations pay 
a good price, because it is so well adapted for the finest 
thread and the best qualities of underwear and hosiery. 
When our cotton fields were idle and unproductive during 
the civil war, England relied chiefly upon the cotton of 
India, making little but the coarser fabrics, because Indian 
cotton is a short staple. Peruvian cotton, which is strong 




Continental Europe, 


United States, 


Great Britain, 


India. 


Other 


5. 


4.5. 


4. 


1.5. 


lands, 1, 



Fig. 50.— World's consumption of raav cotton, 1908 (in million bales of 500 

POUNDS each). 

Showing comparative amounts used in manufactures. 

and coarse, is little used for cotton goods, but is mixed with 
wool for hosiery and underwear. Brazil might send to 
Europe very large quantities of long staple cotton, but 
transportation is poor, and the people have not adopted 



THE UNITED STATES 



85 



the best methods of raising and marketing the fiber. 
Large quantities of clean fiber cotton, mostly grown from 




Fig. 51.— Unioading cotton at New Orleans from £ Mississippi River steamboat. 

the seed of American upland, are raised on irrigated fields 
in Central Asia, supplying much of the fiber used in Eus- 
sian mills. Tropical colonies are growing some cotton. 

Trade in raw cotton. — As soon as our Southern planters 
bale their cotton they send it to market towns, where it is 
sold to agents of home or foreign manufacturers (Fig. 49). 
As we turn more than one-third of our crop into cotton 
cloth, there is a great movement by rail or sea to the factory 
towns scattered through our Southern and Eastern States 
from Maine to Alabama. A third of the crop is sold to 
Great Britain, and the remainder to the rest of the world. 
The movement from the cotton field to our cotton ports 



86 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

begins in September, and for seven months steamers are 
constantly loading with cotton (Fig. 51). Observe in Fig. 
49 our eight ports that are most important in cotton ship- 
ments. Two-thirds of the exports go from the Southern 
ports. 

The great cotton stream crosses the Atlantic from our 
ports to the manufacturing centers of Europe, mainly 
Great Britain and the North Sea countries. Smaller cot- 
ton streams flow from India, Brazil, and Egypt to these 
same countries; so that northwest Europe, growing no 
cotton, is the great receiving center for cotton from all 
parts of the world. We buy Egyptian cotton for hosiery 
and some other manufactures, because it is cheaper than 
our sea-island staple. The housewives of China, weaving 
coarse fabrics on their rude looms, need more cotton than 
the Chinese farmers grow ; so a great deal of India cotton 
is brought to them and also to the spinning-mills the 
Chinese are now building. The greatest land routes for 
raw cotton are across our country into Canada and from 
Central Asia into Eussia. 

Cotton manufactures. — Twenty-seven million spindles 
in the United States are making cotton 3^arn by draw- 
ing out and twisting the fibers. One girl can- attend to 
hundreds of these spindles. Over half a million looms 
weave this yarn into cloth^ one operative often attending 
to two looms. These perfected spinning and weaving 
machines have made cotton cloth so cheap that a great 
deal is purchased even by barbarous tribes. The areas indi- 
cated in Fig. 49 show where we are making, in our North- 
ern and Southern States, more cotton cloth than any other 
nation produces; but the value of Great Britain's product 
is larger than ours, that country making more of the finer 
grades of goods than we manufacture. Medium and coarse 
fabrics — such as calico, sheetings, and cotton flannel — are 
in largest demand in our home markets, and are therefore 
the chief product of our cotton-mills, those of New Eng- 



THE UNITED STATES 87 

land turning out about three-fourths of all our cotton cloth. 
Great Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and Belgium, are 
the greatest cotton-spinning and weaving countries in 
Europe, supplying the rest of the world, excepting this 
country, with most of their cottons. 

Trade in cotton manufactures. — Cotton yarns and cloths 
are sent to all parts of the world, but chiefly to temperate 
and warm countries, where light-weight clothing is in large 
demand. The cloth made by British cotton-spinners, and 
sent to foreign countries every year, would reach from the 
earth to the moon ten times, or make a cotton band which 
would go one hundred times round the earth at the equa- 
tor. Though our export trade is constantly growing. Great 
Britain sells to foreign lands eight to ten times the value 
of the cotton goods that we export ; but cotton manufac- 
tures are the largest industry of Great Britain, the exports 
being worth more than all its woolen, iron, and steel ex- 
ports together, while we have five larger industries than 
cotton-cloth making. ISTorth China buys about half of the 
cotton cloth we sell, the product of British looms filling 
the south China demand. Eussia sends cotton cloth to 
inner Asia. Germany and Belgium have markets in warm 
countries, but France consumes nearly all her large pro- 
duction. 

Wool. — In" the past fifty years the great grazing lands 
of Australasia, Argentina, South Africa, and our Western 
plains have afforded cheap pasturage for millions of sheep 
(Fig. 10), so that the wool clip has nearly doubled. In- 
creased production has reduced the price of wool, improved 
machinery has diminished the cost of manufacturing it, 
and we are therefore able to buy woolen cloth now much 
cheaper than formerly. 

As Europe grows in population it plows the grass lands 
to raise more breadstuffs; thus the population increases 
while the sheep decrease ; the people need more wool and 
have fewer sheep to supply it. Xo manufacturing nation 



88 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



therefore produces all the wool it needs, but supplies its 
deficiency mainly from the new sheep-growing regions 





, 100 , 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 


CONTrNENTAL EUROPE 




(1903) 
AUSTRALASIA 






(1906) 
BIVER PLATE 






(1906) 
UNITED STATES 


^^^^ 


1905 WAS 253,488,438 POUNDS. 


(1908) 
UNITED KINGDOM 






(1903) 

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 
(1903) 

OTH£R COUNTRIES 
(1903) 


wool, in million pounds. Un- 
^^"^^1 broken line shows crop of 1880. 
^^^ Broken line shows the crop of 



thousands of miles over the sea. Europe, however, still 
produces more wool than any other continent (Fig. 52). 
If it were not for our grass plains we should send to 
the same markets for large quantities of wool; as it is, our 
farms and ranges supply only one-half of the fiber we 
require (Fig. 53). 

Short or carding wools, used mainly to make cloth for 
men's wear, are the greatest wool product of this country, 
and of Argentina and Australasia ; they are supplied mostly 
by the pure or mixed merino breeds, to which three-fourths 
of our sheep belong. Long or combing wools-, from long- 
wool breeds in England, western Australasia, Canada, the 
eastern United States, and some other regions, are better 
adapted for hosiery and women's dress goods. Coarse long 
wools for carpets come from Europe, China, and Asia 
Minor. More than half the wool we import is made into 
carpets. 

The wool or hair of a few other animals is used in wool 
manufactures. The fleece of the Angora goat, raised in 
Cape Colony, Asia Minor, and the United States, is the 
material of which mohair is made. The wool of the alpaca 
(Fig. 10) gave rise to the large alpaca-cloth industry. 



THE UNITED STATES 



89 



Camers hair mixed with other yarns is used for shawls and 
carpets. The famous Cashmere shawls are made from the 
downy covering next the skin of the Cashmere goat. 

Trade in wool — Only Australasia, Argentina, Uruguay, 
and South Africa export most of their wool. Their popu- 
lation is far too small to utilize the wool they produce. 
The large streams of wool exports converge from these 

countries in the manu- 
facturing states of north 
Europe. Smaller streams 
from the same sources flow 
to our Atlantic and 
Pacific ports. The 



most northern 
suppliesofwool 
come from Ice- 
land, and the 
most southern 
from Xew Zea- 
land. Boston 
is our largest 
wool market, 
cause it is most 
convenient to the 
great woolen-mills 
of Xew England. 

Woolen 7nanufactures. — The value of cotton cloths made 
every year is much greater than that of woolen cloths, for 
cottons are distributed far more widely over the world. 
Most of our woolens are made in Xew England, Xew 
York, Xew Jersey, and Pennsylvania, near the cotton-mills ; 
and the largest product is cloth of good, but not the finest 




Fig. 53.— Sheep-farming in the West. 



90 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

quality, for men's suits. Great quantities of this cloth 
are sold to makers of ready-made clothing, which is worn 
by most American men. In all large cities we may see 
men carrying bundles of coats or trousers to the wholesale 
dealers in ready-made clothing who employ them ; for this 
immense industry is carried on in the homes of tailors or 
in small shops with steam power. Woolen-mills also make 
the finest grades of cloth, but these qualities require so much 
extra care, skill, and labor, that our manufacturers are at a 
disadvantage as compared with those of England, France, 
and Germany, who pay lower wages; many of the finest 
suitings of those countries are therefore imported, suits ^^to 
order" being made from them in tailor shops. 

The worsted-mills make serges, merinos, and other 
goods for women, besides hosiery and knit goods. If we 
were to visit Cohoes, N. Y., we should see water-power 
driving the machinery in great mills that make more 
hosiery and knit underwear than any other place in the 
world. 

Our country is the greatest carpet-making nation ; Phil- 
adelphia, the chief center of woolen manufactures, weaves 
more carpets than all the rest of the United States. Many 
of these products are excelled only by the famous Persian 
carpets and Turkish rugs made on hand-looms in Oriental 
countries, where thousands of men and women weave them 
with infinite labor in their homes. 

Woolen goods are not nearly so important in the world's 
trade as cotton cloths. Most of all our products are con- 
sumed at home. England, Germany, and France alone are 
prominent in the export of woolen fabrics ; they sell a great 
deal to those cool countries that can afford to pay for 
superior products. 

Silk.— Many ages ago an Empress of China discovered 
that the very fine thread which a certain kind of caterpillar 
spun in making its cocoon might be woven into beautiful 
glossy cloth. This was the beginning of the great silk 



THE UNITED STATES 91 

industry. We may think of tlie Chinese silkworm as a 
domestic animal, for it is reared just as cattle are, for its 
value to mankind. It is the only caterpillar reared for its 
silk; but coarse silk is made from the cocoons of several 
wild species that feed on oak leaves in India and China. 

When the silkworm is hatched it is a tiny object; but 
feeding for forty days almost continually on mulberry or 
osage-orange leaves, it becomes one of the largest of cater- 
pillars. Then it spins its cocoon, which is heated to kill 
the larva, as it would otherwise become a moth. A girl, 
paid in China, Japan, or Italy, sometimes but two cents 
a day, reels the light yellow silk into skeins; she dips 
the cocoon into hot water, to soften the gum that sticks 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 



CHINA (EXPORT) 




JAPAN (EXPORT) 

ITALY 

FRANCE 






ASIA MINOR I 
SYRIA S 
INDIA (EXPORT) 




WORLD'S RAW SILK CONSUMPTION IN 1908 
WAS 50,694,000 POUNDS. 


CAUCASUS 

OTHER COUNTRIES 


- 


Fig. 54. Raw-silk production in 1908 
in million pounds. 



the threads together, then she passes several threads 
through her fingers as she reels, so that they are united 
into one by the gummy substance. It takes about 1,000 
cocoons to make a pound of raw silk. Silk is not spun as 
cotton and wool are, but after it is twisted and doubled, to 
make a stronger thread (thrown silk), it is ready for the 
loom. 

Sources of raw silJc. — The silkworm is raised in many 
countries, but China, Japan, and Italy are the most impor- 
tant (Fig. 54). Thriving wherever the mulberry grows, the 
silkworm might be extensively raised in our country, partic- 
7 



92 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Tilarly in the South. It is cheaper, however, to import 
raw silk than to raise it here, because it is the product in 
other countries of very cheap labor; etJorts are now being 
made to introduce the culture into our Southern States. 
The United States buys about one-third of the exports; 
France, Germany, Switzerland, and England are also large 
buyers. In 1916 Japan was the largest producer. 

Silh manufactures. — The chief silk manufactures are 
broad goods (for dresses, etc.), ribbons, sewing silks, and 
laces. The Chinese and Japanese make enormous quanti- 
ties of silk goods both for the home trade and export. The 




Fig. 55.— Interior of a silk-mill at Paterson, N. J. 



United States, France, Germany, and Switzerland make 
about four- fifths of the silk goods produced by Western 
nations. The United States is the largest manufacturer, 
the value of its silk industry, built up in less than sixty 
years, being more than $254,000,000 in 1914, supplying its 
people with four-fifths of the silks they use. Nearly all 
the mills are in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. 
The greatest silk manufacturing center is Paterson, N. J., 
which has the largest ribbon-mill in the world. This country 
excels in dress goods of a medium quality; France in both 



THE UNITED STATES 93 

the cheap and expensive silks ; Germany in cheap products ; 
and Switzerland in the finest goods. Water, free from 
mineral impurities, is needed for silk dyeing ; it is their 
advantage in this respect that has made Lyons, France, 
Paterson, ^N". J., Zurich, Switzerland, and Crefeld, Germany, 
the greatest silk manufacturing cities (Fig. 55). 

Because France, Germany, and Switzerland make so 
large a variety of goods and. patterns, suiting many differ- 
ent tastes and purses, they have about four-fifths of the 
entire export trade. Great Britain and the United States 
buying most of the goods they sell abroad. 

Flax. — As much hard labor is required to prepare flax 
fiber, its cultivation for textile purposes is mainly confined 
to countries where labor is cheap. Eussia supplies nearly 
four-fifths of the flax of the world; but the best quality 
comes from the valley of the Lys River in Belgium, whose 
water, free from lime salts, is particularly adapted for ret- 
ting the straw or separating the woody matter from the 
fiber. Our country grows flax mainly for its seed, from 
which linseed-oil is manufactured.^ We therefore need to 
import large quantities of lawns, cambrics, and other linen 
goods, of which Great Britain and Ireland make enormous 
quantities, the next largest producers being Germany, 
France, Belgium, and Russia. The latter country sends a 
great deal of flax fiber to Ireland and Germany. Argen- 
tina raises an enormous quantity of flax for linseed. The 
United States is the great market for the linen exports of 
north Europe. 

1 The seeds of several fiber-plants are very valuable sources of vege- 
table oil. Many millions of dollars are paid every year to our planters 
for the cotton-seed that is sent to Southern mills to press out the oil. 
Cottonseed-oil is used in cookery as butter and lard are used, and also 
as a substitute for olive and some other oils. What is left of the seed is 
fed to cattle or used as a fertilizer (oil-cake and oil-cake meal). Our 
house paints are made chiefly of linseed-oil, the oil of flaxseed. Hemp- 
seed-oil is used in making soaps, paints, and varnishes. 



94 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Other fibers. — Several other fibers are important in trade. 
Hemp, used for rope and sail-cloth, is mostly grown in 
Europe and India ; Russia and Italy are the largest export- 
ing countries. We once raised great quantities, but hene- 
quen and manila hemp have taken its place to a large 
extent (Fig. 56). Manila hemp thrives mainly in the 
Philippines, the United States and Great Britain buying 
most of it for cordage and sail-cloth. Manila paper is made 




Fig. RR.— a hemp-neld in Konmoi^v. 



of old Manila rope. Most of our cotton sacking is made of 
henequen or sisal hemp, the great export crop of Yucatan. 
Many goods that come to us from foreign lands are packed 
in gunnybags made of jute, which grows almost entirely in 
the delta region of the Ganges. We import a great deal of 
raw jute to make into carpets, curtains, and other textil-es, 
and jute butts for paper-making. The chief seat of jute 
manufactures is Dundee, Scotland. 

Esparto (alfa in Algeria) grows wild in parts of Spain 



THE UNITED STATES 95 

and Africa, and is used for makinf]^ paper, rope, and mat- 
ting. The Chinese weave coarse fabrics of ramie or China 
grass, which is also useful for cordage. New Zealand flax, 
or phormium, is another fiber growing wild in the valley 
of the Waikato River; it is exported for paper, cordage, 
and fabrics. 

Paper. — This common convenience of life is made from 
vegetable fibers which, reduced to pulp, mat together when 
freed from the water used in the pulping process. The 
United States, Germany, and Great Britain make the most 
paper, using linen and cotton rags, wood, straw, old papers, 
and esparto in the manufacture of printing, writing, and 
wrapping papers, which are the most important kinds. 
Wood-pulp is the largest material used wherever great 
forests of spruce or poplar exist, as they do in our country, 
Canada, and Germany. We make more paper than any 
other nation, largely because of the great number and size 
of our newspapers, which consume over 3,000 tons of 
paper a day. Xearly all our newspaper is made of wood- 
pulp, an area half as large as Rhode Island being stripped 
of pulp-timber every 3'ear to make the paper on which the 
news of the world is printed. Writing and other better 
grades of paper are made mostly of linen and muslin rags; 
Holyoke, Mass., is the largest center of this industry. 
Great Britain, Russia, and Spain are the leading importers 
of paper, illl the other great producers, including the 
United States, export more than they import in time of 
peace; but the great war compelled many European news- 
papers to reduce their size, as the usual quantity of print 
paper was not produced. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE UNITED STATES-iContinued) 
Forest products, their manufactures and the trade in them. 

Importance of wood crops. — A very large part of our 
comforts and conveniences come from products that the for- 
ests supply. Wherever we turn, we see wood serving innu- 
merable uses. Many of our houses are built of white pine, 
which, like the apple among fruits, is a good all-round ma- 
terial for many useful purposes ; flour-barrels are made of 
elm, wine-casks usually of oak, furniture of walnut, ash, 
maple, and many other woods ; the dainty, light boxes in 
which the French people pack silks, perfumeries, mineral 
waters, and other specialties are of poplar. In the warmer 
parts of Asia, houses, bridges, weapons, and many other 
things are made of bamboo ; teak, the finest timber of India, 
Indo-China, and Siam, lasts for centuries and is used by all 
nations for the woodwork of war-ships, because cannon-shot 
does not splinter it. Most of the fuel used in the homes of 
Eussia and France, and one-third of the fuel consumed in 
our kitchen stoves, is wood. These facts are sufficient to 
illustrate the vast importance of the wood industries. 

Sources of wood supplies. — The great forests which girdle 
the earth between the arctic circle and the thirtieth paral- 
lel, north latitude, are the largest sources of commercial 
products derived from trees (Fig. 57, pine- and leaf-trees). 
Here are the gre^t forest areas which cover almost half of 
Russia, nearly a third of Canada, and a fourth of the United 
States, making these three nations the greatest wood-pro- 
ducing countries in the world. 
96 



98 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Forests need protection. — Although it takes about one 
hundred years to grow a crop of timber, forests have been cut 
down for centuries without any thought of replacing them. 
Lumbermen never dreamed of a second crop on the ground 
they cleared. As a result, one of the greatest sources of 
wealth has been squandered. But to-day, all enlightened 
nations try to preserve their forests. It is against the law 
in Germany, France, Austria, and India to cut down a tree 
without planting another. The United States is beginning 
to protect its forests, and to encourage the planting and the 
care of trees. Many thousands of trees, for example, are 
now flourishing on the once treeless prairies of eastern Ne- 
braska. 

Lumber. — About half the timber that is cut is used for 
fire-wood ; but the largest commercial product of the forests 
is lumber. It is so heavy and bulky that freight charges 
must be low or it does not pay to carry it far. This is the 
reason why the cheap water routes are used so much in the 
transportation of lumber. Enormous supplies of lumber 
are floated down the rivers from the forests of south Ger- 
many to the plains of Prussia. Our Northern pineries have 
made the Great Lakes the most important lumber route in 
the world. Many shiploads of lumber go to England and 
South Africa even from our Pacific ports. When Argentina 
needed ties for new railroads it was found that it would cost 
so much to carry them from the northern forests of that 
country and Paraguay to the rivers, that many shiploads of 
ties were ordered from Australia at less expense. From 
these examples we see the importance of cheap transporta- 
tion for lumber and timber. 

The United States is the largest producer of lumber. 
Sawmills are found nearly everywhere, most of the country, 
except the great Western plains, growing more or less timber 
which is fit for lumber ^Fig. 58). Several million houses 
might be built every year with the lumber we manufacture; 
but lumber is also used for many other purposes. 



THE UNITED STATES 



99 



Soft-wood lumber. — Three-fourths of 



our 



lumber is 



made from soft woods, such as various pines, S})Tuce, hem- 
lock, and redwood. The great pineries of Minnesota, Wiscon- 
sin, and Michigan suppl}^ our white pine, a most useful tim- 
ber, though the supply has now been greatly reduced because 




^^^Largest Production, 
■ Importatkt. 
[SmaU. 
Largest Lumher markets. 



Fig. 58. 



of overcutting. Thousands of men spend the winters in 
logging camps in these northern woods felling trees; deep 
snow makes it easy and cheap to haul the logs on sleds to 
the banks of the rivers on which, when the spring thaw 
comes, the logs are floated to the sawmills (Fig. 59). 
The hum of the saw in many mills is heard day and night ; 
the great j^iles of lumber they produce are carried by rail, 
steamboat, or raft to the large lumber markets (Fig. 
o8), whence it is distributed to the smaller towns. As 
Chicago has water communications with the sawmills near 
the pineries and is in the center of the great Western 
lumber trade, this city is the largest lumber market in the 
■world. 



THE UNITED STATES 101 

But now the largest source of soft-wood lumber is the 
Southern States along the Atlantic and the Gulf, from Texas 
to Virginia; the Georgia and loblolly pines are the most 
important varieties, supplying many Southern and Northern 
markets. 

The Northeastern States are the largest source of hemlock 
and spruce ; both are useful for lumber ; spruce is also used 
for making wood-pulp, and hemlock bark is the most impor- 
tant material used in tanning our leather. The tannin in 
the bark combines with the gelatin in the hides, changing 
them into leather. 

The soft woods of the Pacific coast supply about one- 
tenth of our lumber ; among them is the gigantic redwood, 
and the Douglas fir, a tough, strong timber which fills much 
of the world's demand for ship-masts and spars. 

Hard-ioood lumher. — Some of our hard-wood supplies 
are mixed in with the pines in the northern portion of our 
southern pine belt ; but most of our hard-wood lumber, 
which is a fourth of all the lumber we manufacture, comes 
from the wide region east of the Mississippi, between the 
northern and southern soft-wood belts, with St. Louis and 
Memphis as the greatest markets (Fig. 58). Hard woods, 
such as the oak, ash, maple, walnut, elm, and others are 
much less employed for lumber than soft woods, but are, 
however, in great demand for house-trimmings, furniture, 
the woodwork of machinery, and other purposes. 

The trade in lumber and timber. — Soft-wood lumber and 
logs, chiefly from pine- and fir-trees, are the greatest element 
in the world^s lumber trade. European states are the largest 
buyers of lumber, for, excepting Eussia, they have small 
forests compared with our immense area of timber lands. 
Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Austria, among the large 
states, alone produce more lumber than they need. All the 
other large countries import great quantities, Austria ship- 
ping supplies into Germany and Italy, while the lumber 
ships of Sweden and Norway are constantly plying to other 



102 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ports of Europe^ which also receive large quantities from 
Canada and the United States. Europe, therefore, is the 
center that draws most of the lumber exports. 

We buy little lumber or timber except from Canada and 
tropical countries, and we export to Europe and tropical 
America much more than we import. 

Tropical regions have no soft woods that compare favor- 
ably with our pines. We sell, therefore, to tropical America 
a great deal of our soft-wood lumber. In return, these hot 
regions send to us and to Europe their costly hardwoods, 
such as mahogany, rosewood, and ebony. These beautiful 
woods are used for making the finest furniture, for veneering, 
and for other cabinet work. 

Manufactures from lumber. — Many of the things made 
from lumber are produced near the sources of lumber sup- 
plies. For example, as the busy cities of Grand Eapids, 
Saginaw, and Muskegon, Mich., are on the threshold of 
fine forests, they are among the greatest manufacturers of 
furniture. Scattered through our Southern States, there are 
many furniture factories near the forests that supply the 
lumber. Most of our farm machinery is made in the Missis- 
sippi Valley and in the lake region, including western !N"eAV 
York, because wood supplies and the farming industry are 
both very large in these parts of the country, so that both 
the lumber for the machines and the market for them are 
near at hand. 

Gums and resins. — Turpentine, resin (commonly called 
rosin), and tar are large products of the pine forests of 
Georgia, Alabama, and the other coast States from North 
Carolina to Louisiana. The trees are tapped for the oily 
sap (crude turpentine), which hardens into gum and is then 
distilled by heating ; the turpentine passes in the form of 
vapor through cold pipes in which it is condensed, running 
out as spirits of turpentine. The residue remaining from 
this process is the rosin of commerce. Spirits of turpen- 
tine, one of the most important of the volatile oils, is used 



THE UNITED STATES 103 

in paints and varnishes. Rosin is employed in making 
soap, varnishes, paper, and several other manufactures. Tar, 
distilled from wood by heat, is used for calking ships and 
coating rope rigging. As Russia and Scandinavia produce 
much smaller quantities of these products, turpentine and 
rosin are large exports from this country. 

Many woods and other plants, like logwood, supply dye- 
stuffs which were of great importance till they were largely 
supplanted by the cheaper aniline colors, which are chemi- 
cally produced from benzene, one of the by-products of 
petroleum. AYe import more indigo, a blue dye, than all 
other dyes together; but artificial indigo, equal to the 
natural product, is now made on a large scale in Germany. 

India-rubber. — Caoutchouc, or india-rubber, is the hard- 
ened milky juice of a few tropical trees and vines. About 
130 years ago artists in England began to use rubber to 
erase pencil marks, from which fact it derived its name. 
The articles made from rubber were not satisfactory, at first, 
for the rubber melted in summer and cracked in winter. 
When Charles Goodyear discovered that by applying heat 
and sulphur to raw rubber it would withstand any climate 
and might be made into many useful articles, rubber came 
into large demand. It was found that it might be plenti- 
fully obtained in the tropical parts of America, Africa, and 
Asia. The forests of the Amazon now supply two-thirds of 
it, and in the season many small steamers go far up the 
river and its tributaries to collect the caoutchouc, which is 
gathered by thousands of rubber collectors. 

The United States consumes nearly half of the raw rub- 
ber of the world, one reason being because New England 
manufactures six times as many rubber shoes and boots as 
the whole of Europe. Everybody in this country wears 
^' rubbers," while their use in Europe is confined to persons 
of means. Bicycle and automobile tires, combs, buttons, 
and many other articles are also made of rubber. 

The international trade in rubber is mainly in the raw 



104 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

material. Manufactured rubber products are mostly con- 
sumed in the countries where they are produced.* 

Gutta-percha. — The Malay archipelago, Borneo, and 
Sumatra are the largest growers of the gutta-percha tree, 
whose hardened juice is the best material yet found for 
coating submarine cables. It is a perfect protection for 
the wire, as salt water does not harm the gutta-percha that 
envelops it. The tree is cut down to obtain the juice, 
about 6,000,000 trees having been killed for gutta-percha 
since the gum became an article of export in 1845. As the 
demand in the United States and the European countries 
which lay ocean cables is now greater than the supply, the 
French and Dutch are planting the tree in the East Indies. 

duinin. — The cinchona-tree yields quinin (Peruvian 
bark), which is highly valued for its curative effects in 
malaria — commonly called '' chills and fever " — and some 
other diseases. Though a native of Peru and Ecuador, the 
cinchona-tree has been planted largely in Ceylon, Java, and 
India, whence the greater part of the drug is now derived. 
Our imports are considerable, and quinin is very largely 
consumed in Italy and tropical Africa. 

The cork-tree. — The thick, soft bark of the cork-tree is 
known in commerce as cork-wood. The tree grows only in 
Mediterranean countries and Portugal. Spain and Algeria 
sell much of the bark, but Portugal is the largest source of 
supply. When the bark is stripped from the tree another 
bark begins to form, which yields a fresh crop in about 
twelve years. Nine-tenths of the cork-wood sold is made 
into bottle stoppers. As manufactured cork is dutiable 
in the United States, we make most of our corks from im- 
ported cork-wood. 

* Efforts to raise rubber plants on plantations and thus increase the 
supply and assure the future of the industry were long unsuccessful. 
The problem has been solved, and rubber planting is now (1910) proving 
a success in many parts of the tropics. 



CHAPTER X 

THE UNITED STATES— (Continued) 
Mineral products and the trade in them. 

Mining. — In the deepest mines it is so warm that miners 
are able to keep steadily at worlf only when sprayed with 
water. Because heat increases so rapidly with depth, min- 
ing is necessarily confined to the upper rocks. It is not 
likely that minerals more than a mile below the surface will 
ever be mined; but the forces of nature, that crushed rocks 
together and lifted them into mountain-ranges, have brought 
near the surface many valuable minerals, which were once 
buried far beyond the reach of man. 

Minerals are obtained by mining when they can be 
reached only by digging into the rocks, and bringing them 
to the surface through shafts, as in the case with most of 
the metals; they are obtained by quarrying when the works 
are open and visible at the surface, as is usually the case 
with building-stone and much iron ore. 

Coal. — Coal is very widely distributed over the earth 
(Fig. 60). Many thousands of years ago, when vegetation 
was far more luxuriant than it is to-day, enormous masses 
of decayed plants or forests formed thick beds, and in the 
course of ages were transformed by heat, moisture, and pres- 
sure into a black or brownish substance — the coal we now 
use for fuel. There are several varieties, but coal is broadly 
subdivided into hard coal or anthracite, used mainly in our 
homes; soft or bituminous coal, the great fuel for steam mak- 
ing; and lignite, which, also, is valuable for fuel. 

105 



THE UNITED STATES 



107 




OTHER COUNTRIES 



Fig. 61.— World's production of coal. 1908 
(in iiiillion long tons). TotJil, 1,130 million 
tons. The U. S. production is increasing. 
In 1905 it was 373.207.956 tons. 



Manufacturing industries depend upon coal to drive 
machinery and also to extract iron and other minerals from 
their ores : so that coal is 
the foundation on which 
most industries stand. For 
Miany years Great Britain 
was the largest producer in 
the world, but our country 
took the lead in 1899, and is 
increasing it every year. Xo 
other country approaches 
these two nations as coal 
producers (Fig. 61). 

Coal in the United 
States. — Coal is the most 
important mineral product 
of our country. Fig. 62 
shows its wide distribution in the United States. One reason 
why we are able to sell so many of our manufactures in other 
lands, is because our coal, which is so cheaply mined and 
transported, furnishes cheap power for driving machinery 
and lowers the cost of making goods. Fig. 63 shows a 
miner breaking down the coal in a mine far under the sur- 
face. 

Coal in other lands. — The United States, Great Britain, 
Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, and Eussia are the 
greatest coal producers. We see in this fact one of the 
chief reasons why they lead the world as manufacturing 
nations. Many other countries produce coal, and some 
great coal regions are not yet developed. China, for exam- 
ple, mines little, though her coal-fields are believed to be as 
large as those of the United States. 

Trade {71 coal. — Great Britain, with many mines near the 
sea so that her coal is easily shipped, exports more than all 
the other nations together. Bituminous coal is exported in 
much larger quantities than any other kinds, because it is the 



108 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



fuel of factories and steamships. The large coal importers 
are France, Germany, and Belgium, which, though they 
have large coal-mines, need to buy foreign coal to feed the 
furnaces of their factories and shops. Switzerland, Sweden, 




Fig. 62. — Coal underlies more than one-sixth of the surface of this country. Bitumi- 
nous coal is taken from seven great fields : (1) The Appalachian field, extending 
over 900 miles from New York to Alabama, supplies nearly two-thirds of the total ; 

(2) the Central field, in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, supplies nearly one-sixth ; 

(3) the Western field, west of the Mississippi, supplies about one-ninth ; (4) the 
Rocky Mountain, (5) Pacific coast, (6) Northern (in central Michigan), and (7) Trl- 
assic fields (in the Richmond basin, Virginia, and along the Deep and Dan Rivers 
in North Carolina) supply the remainder. The map also shows the anthracite area 
in the valleys of the Susquehanna, Lehigh, and Schuylkill Rivers, covering only 
480 square miles in eastern Pennsylvania. 



and Italy are large importers because they have no home 
supply. When steamships make long voyages they need to 
recoal on the way ; so there are many coaling stations all 
over the world where vessels may buy coal. Great Britain 
supplying many of these stations. As the largest buyers are 
the countries nearest to Great Britain she has a market at her 
doors for most of her surplus. Coal is so heavy, bulky, and 
cheap that we are seldom able to send it profitably thousands 



THE UNITED STATES 



109 



of miles over the seas to compete with British coal in Euro- 
pean markets, though American coal is cheaper at our mines 
than British coal. 

Most parts of our country buy bituminous coal from 
neighboring fields, but anthracite, which is almost wholly 
derived from eastern Pennsylvania, is sent far West. New 
York city, from its being the center of a great shipping 
trade and large manufactures, is, except London, the greatest 
coal market in the world. 




Ptg. B3.— In a coal-mine. 



By-products of coal. — Coal-gas, produced from bitumi- 
nous coal, is made in all important towns of our country for 
lighting houses and streets, for heating and cooking. Soma 



IIU 



elementaky commercial geography 



important products are obtained from the distillation of 
coal-gas, such as coal-tar. Aniline dyes, with which most 
of our cloths are colored, are made from one of the prod- 
ucts of coal-tar ; another important by-product is ammo- 
nia, which, being rich in the nitrogen that plants require, 
is a valuable fertilizer. ' 




Ftg. 64.— Coke-ovens. 



Coke. — The fuel used in making nine-tenths of our pig 
iron is coke, produced by heating certain kinds of bitumi- 
nous coal in ovens from which air is almost wholly excluded 
(Fig. 64). It is freed from impurities in the process of 
coking and is therefore better adapted for smelting iron ore 



112 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

than any other fuel; so all the great iron-producing coun' 
tries make large quantities of coke. The Connellsville re- 
gion, forty miles from Pittsburg, produces more coke than 
any other district in the world. 

Iron. — Iron is the most important metal because it is 
the most useful to man. Observe (Fig. 65) how widely it is 
distributed over the earth. Even barbarous people have 
learned its value; many African tribes, long before white 
men came among them, melted iron ore in rude furnaces to 
extract the iron, with which they made spear-heads, hoes, 
and ornaments. Iron is a cheap metal, but such enormous 
quantities are produced that the value of the iron mined 




Iron ore. Lead, Copper, Zinc, Tin, Sil., G., 

134,000,000. 930,000. 748,000. 619,000. 115,000. 5,900. 732. 

Fig. 66.— Weight of iron ore and metals produced in 1900 (in tons). 
The metals, in order of value, are iron ore, gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and tin. 

every year is far greater than that of the gold produced. 
Fig. 66 will give you an idea of the great quantity of iron 
produced as compared with all the other metals. 

Iron in the United States. — This country produces more 
than one-third of the world's iron. The amount of iron 
extracted from the ore in 1907 was much more than that 
produced by England and Germany together (Fig. 67). 
Nearly half of our States and Territories mine iron ore, but 
two-thirds of it comes from the five great ore ranges of 
Lake Superior. You will find the position of these ranges 
in Fig. 68. See how near they are to water transportation. 
Short railroads connect the mines with the shipping ports. 



THE rXlTKD STATES 



113 



Our country makes tlie cheapest iron and steel in the 
world, because it has invented so much machinery for min- 
ing, handling, and trans- 
porting the ore, and for 
producing cheap pig iron 
and steel. Fig. 9 shows the 
way in which much of the 
Lake Superior ore is shov- 
eled from open pits by 
steam-shovels into small cars 
at a cost of ten to fifty cents 
a ton for quarrying and 
loading. The cars carry the 
ore to neighboring shipping 
ports on Lake Superior or 

Lake Michigan and dump it into bunkers high above the 
docks. When the doors of these bunkers are opened the 
ore slides down chutes into the ore ships. As many of 
these ships carry 6,000 tons at a load, the cost per ton of 



-<-* 


^_^^.7_^i"^v-.- -i'— 


■ ^^ 


K-' 


- -V --1-' • '''-^ ■"• 


r 1* 


'a 


UNITED STATES 


t„ 


:.- 


25.7 


JBBKH 


.,, 




V ■■'' 




GREAT BRITAIN 
5.1 


y y 




GERMANV 
12.9 


y y 


FRANCE 3.6 |//'/ 


RUSSIA 2 7 >/ X 


■■ 


OTHER COUNTRIES 3 


5 i^ 



Fig. 67.— World's production of iron ore. 
1907 (in million tons.) 




XAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE 
DISTRICT 

■ Tron Ore Shipping Ports 
• Chief Copper Shipping Port 



Fig. 68. 



delivering it at the receiving ports on Lakes Erie and 
Michigan (Fig. 69) is very small. 

The iron ore is carried to the coke because it is cheaper to 



114 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



make iron near the great markets for it. In the Birming- 
ham, Ala., district, however, ore, coke-making coal, and 
limestone needed for smelting are conveniently found near 
together (Fig. 70) ; but nearly all the Lake Superior ore is 
carried to western Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, Chicago, 
and Milwaukee for smelting, about two-thirds of it going to 



SCALE, 1=17,000,000 IRON ORE SHIPPING ROUTES 

SCALE OF MILES 




Fig. 69.— The map shoAvs the routes through the lakes from the shipping to the receiv- 
ing ports. As most of the ore is sent to smelters in eastern Ohio and western 
Pennsylvania, the receiving ports on the south shore of Lake Erie are of largest 
importance. A railroad between Conneaut and Pittsburg carries nothing but 
iron ore. Lake Michigan ports, mainly South Chicago and Milwaukee, also re- 
ceive large quantities of ore. The distance from the mines to Pittsburg, where 
the larger part of the ore is used, is nearly 1,000 miles: but so economically are all 
operations conducted that Lake Superior ores are often mined and sold on cars at 
Lake Erie ports for $2 to $3.50 a ton. The map also indicates the iron-ore and 
pig-iron output of the chief producing States. 

the region about Pittsburg, our greatest center of the iron 
and steel industries. 

Pig iron. — Ore, coke, and limestone are needed to smelt 
iron ore. Figure 71 is a picture of some blast-furnaces. 



THE UNITED STATES 



115 




Fig. 70. 



Small cars carry the ore, coke, and limestone to the top of the 
shaft, Avhere they are poured into the intensely hot furnace. 
The ore and lime- 
stone are melted and 
the limestone forms 
a paste with the slag 
or earthy part of the 
ore ; the molten iron 
being heaviest, drops 
through the mix- 
ture to the bottom of 
the furnace, where 
it runs off into 
molds and hardens. 
The molds are small 
so that the iron in 

them may be convenient to handle. This is pig iron, each 
pig weighing about 100 pounds. It is now ready to be 
turned into steel or into cast iron for stoves and many other 
things made of the metal. 

Steel. — Steel is made by melting pig iron and burning 
out most of the carbon it contains, so that the metal be- 
comes harder, stronger, and more durable than iron. The 
frames of many buildings, boilers, rails for railroads, and a 
great many other things are now made of steel instead of 
iron. Steel saves money in numerous ways. Much heavier 
loads, for example, may be hauled over steel than over iron 
rails ; one locomotive therefore pulls a much larger quan- 
tity of freight than formerly and so reduces the cost of 
freight. The value of pig iron is increased about tenfold 
by turning it into steel. The United States, Great Britain, 
and Germany are the largest producers of iron and steel. 

Trade in iron ore, iron, and steel. — We produce about 
all the iron and steel consumed in our country, but have 
very little to export except in the form of manufactured 
goods. Great Britain is the only country that sends much 



116 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

iron and steel to other lands ; but we have the advantage of 
producing about all the iron ore our industries need, while 
England and Germany need to import large quantities from 
Spain and Sweden, carrying it cheaply to their blast-furnaces 




Fig. 71. — Blast-furnaces. 



by sea and the inland water routes. The international trade 
in iron ore, iron, and steel is chiefly confined to a few 
European countries. The Netherlands, having no iron ore, 
Switzerland having little, and Italy mining little, need to 
import much iron. 

Gold. — Gold, which dazzles the eye because it is beautiful, 

' is used for money and ornament, but it is not so important 
to man as iron, copper, or tin, which every day contribute 

X much more than gold to his comfort and convenience. 
Gold is mined all over the world (Fig. 60), but the greatest 
producing countries are the Transvaal in South Africa, the 
United States, Australia, Canada, and Russia. Most of it is 
found in quartz and other hard rocks, and is obtained by 



THE UNITED STATES 117 

crushing and smelting the rock (quartz-mining). A great 
deal also is found mixed with gravel and sand and is 
obtained by washing (placer-mining). The price of gold is 
high because the world wants much of it and it is hard to 
get. About four-fifths of the gold is coined into money. 
In some countries, including the United States, a miner 
may send his gold-dust to the mint, where it is coined free 
of charge ; but in most countries a small charge is made for 
coinage. The beauty and value of gold also make it highly 
prized for ornamentation. This demand for the metal 
absorbs about one-fifth of the annual product, the gold 
being turned into many forms of jewelry, watch cases, and 
otlier solid or plated wares. Gold hammered out very thin, 
(gold-leaf) is used for gilding and in dentistry. It is too 
soft to be used pure and it is therefore alloyed with copper 
or other metals. Pure gold is called twenty-four carats fine. 
If you see a watch case marked ''fourteen carats" it means 
that the case is fourteen parts gold and ten parts alloy. 

Silver. — Silver is mined in many countries, but more 
than half of it is obtained in the United States and Mexico 
(Fig. 60). About one-sixth of it is used in all parts of the 
world for small coins, the remainder being employed in the 
arts ; thus the greatest usefulness of silver is in the form 
of many manufactures of the metal, while, as we have seen, 
the greatest usefulness of gold is in the form of money. 
Because both gold and silver are beautiful, highly prized, 
and difficult to get, they are called the precious metals. 
Most of the jewelry and other wares made of them in our 
country are manufactured in the Eastern States. France 
exports more gold and silver wares than any other country 
because her goods have long been regarded as excelling in 
design and finish. We sell very few of our fine goods 
abroad, but in prosperous times we import large quantities, 
most of the jewelry coming from France. 

Copper. — Every continent produces copper, but our own 
great mines give the world more than half its supply, Spain 



118 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

being the next largest" producer (Fig. 60). The copper ores 
near Butte and Anaconda, Mont., are the greatest sources of 
the metal in any country. The ores of Arizona and the pure 
copper raised from great depths on the southern shore of Lake 
Superior also yield very large supplies (Fig. 68). Copper 
being an excellent conductor of electricity has been in 
greater demand in the past few years, since all the leading 
nations began to make many appliances for the use of elec- 
tricity in running trolley-cars and driving machinery. All 
the most important European countries, needing to import 
copper for their electrical industries, buy nearly all the 
metal we have to sell. Our country is the largest exporting 
nation, most of our shipments going from New York and 
Baltimore because so large a part of the metal is sent to 
those cities to be refined. 

Brass. — Copper and zinc are melted together in the pro- 
portion of about two parts copper and one part zinc, the 
resulting alloy being brass. Next to iron it is the most 
important metal in the arts, because it is easily worked, its 
color is acceptable, and it is thus adapted for many purposes 
such as musical instruments, machine trimmings, buttons, 
and tubes. Most of the brass used in the United States 
comes from Connecticut. All European countries have to 
import brass. 

Tin. — The tin utensils in our kitchens are made of sheet 
iron or sheet steel covered with the bright, soft metal tin. 
The sheets of iron or steel thus prepared are called tin 
plate. More than 300 tin-plate mills in the United States 
are kept busy supplying the plate from which our tinware 
is made. Tin is very sparsely distributed (Fig. 65), the 
Straits Settlements and two islands near them in the East 
Indies producing most of it, though important supplies 
come from Cornwall in England, Bolivia, and Tasmania. 
Our imports of tin are very large. 

Zinc. — This is a hard metal used in making brass and 
coating iron (galvanized iron) and copper to protect them 



THE UNITED STATES 



119 



from moistnre. Our largest supplies come from the Galena- 
Joplin district in Kansas and Missouri. We need to import 
only a small quantity. 

Lead. — This soft metal used for water-pipes, roofing, and 
other purposes is a large product of our silver-mining 
regions, where it is combined with silver ores. This coun- 
try, though the largest producer, imports much lead from 
Mexico. Great Britain buys lead from Spain, the second 
largest producer. These two importing countries consume 
four-sevenths of the world's supply (Fig. 60). 

Aluminum. — This light, white metal, found in many 
rocks all over the world, is used, for making numerous arti- 
cles in the place of wood, iron, brass, and. tin, such as racing 
boats, toys, ornaments, and. kitchen utensils. It was not 
discovered till recently how to extract it cheaply from the 
rocks containing it. The product is still small, our country 
supplying half of it, about fifty million pounds. 




Fig. 72. 



Petroleum. — This is an oily substance that collects in 
reservoirs under the earth's surface and is usually obtained 



120 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



by boring. About fifty years ago a method of refining 
it was discoYered and glass chimneys for lamps were in- 
vented so that refined petroleum (kerosene) might be 
burned without smoking ; since then kerosene has become 
the most widely used illuminant. 




F't<. T3. — P^TriOLEF^r tank ste A:\rErv. 
Workmen are connecting the pipe with the tanks preparatory to pumping the oil into 

the vessel. 



The greatest producers are the United States and Eussia 
(Fig. 65). Eussian petroleum is best adapted for fuel, tak- 
ing the place of coal or wood- in the furnaces of locomotives, 
steamboats, and other machinery. The use of fuel oil is 
rapidly increasing, and we now supply large quantities from 
our Texas fields ; but the oil from Pennsylvania and Ohio 
(Fig. 72) is best for refining, so that our greatest product 
is kerosene. Gasolene, a volatile liquid obtained from the 
distillation of petroleum, has been used chiefly in automobile 
engines since the invention of the gas engine or carbureter. 



THE rXITEI) STATES 121 

This power drives most automobiles, farm tractors, etc. It 
has enormously extended the use of petroleum. 

Kerosene, which we send to every land the world over, 
has a wider sale than any other of our exports. Most of it 
is pumped into great tanks on oil steamers, but some is sent 
in tin cans (Fig. 73). In many ports, even in India, it is 
pumped from the steamers into tank-cars which distribute it 
to thousands of cities and villages. Camels carry the cans in 
North Africa, mules in South America, and wheelbarrows in 
Chinese cities. The largest buyers are the countries of 
Europe and South America, Japan, China, and Australia. 
Russia is our largest competitor in foreign markets, but even 
in Russia much American kerosene is sold. 

Sulphur. — Sicily and south Italy produce about 850,000 
tons of sulphur a year, while all the rest of the world yields 
only about one-thirtieth as much. As sulphur is important 
in the industries, all the manufacturing countries import a 
great deal of it. Refined sulphur (the brimstone of com- 
merce), is used in the manufacture of gunpowder, for vul- 
canizing rnbber, and in medicines ; sulphuric acid is neces- 
sary in the manufacture of many common articles like 
window-glass and kerosene. These are some of the ways in 
which sulphur and its products add to the comforts of life. 

Building-stones. — Xearly every country quarries its own 
stone for the walls and roofs of buildings, monuments, and 
other purposes. Limestone, granite, sandstone, and slate 
are the most useful varieties ; slate, for roofing, being the 
only considerable export from the United States. Most of 
our tombstones are made of Vermont marble. A very 
superior marble quarried at Carrara, Italy, is used by sculp- 
tors for making statuary. 

Clay products. — Clay is used in nearly every State of the 
Union for making brick, stoneware, the crockery of our 
kitchens, and other articles. A kind of clay known as kao- 
lin is in large demand for making white or decorated china- 
ware. The largest manufactures of these goods are at 



122 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Trenton, N. J., and East Liverpool, Ohio, near the greatest 
supplies of china clays. In addition to our immense home 
supplies, we buy a great deal of foreign stone and china- 
ware from England, Germany, and France. 

Salt. — As nearly every country produces most or all of 
the salt it needs it is not a large article of international 
trade. It is used for the table, as a preservative of foods and 
hides, and in the manufacture of soda, glass, and other 
articles. 

Precious stones. — The diamond is, with the exception of 
the finest rubies, the most costly of precious stones (Fig. 65). 
Most diamonds come from the Kimberley mines in South 
Africa. The blue earth containing the rough stones is 
shoveled into buckets and hoisted to the surface, where it is 
spread on the ground till the influence of the sun and air 
has softened the earth so that washing machines may easily 
separate it from the stones. London buyers go to Kimber- 
ley in March every year, and purchase the yearns output, 
which is sold to diamond-cutters in Amsterdam, Belgium, 
Paris, and New York, who prepare the stones for the trade. 
Brazil yields a small supply of the finest diamonds. Burma 
is the largest source of the ruby, Persia of the turquoise, 
and the Ural Mountains and Colombia of the emerald. We 
import nearly all the precious stones in our jewelry trade. 

This chapter has included only the most important of 
the mineral products and industries ; but the many facts 
given show how vast are the treasures dug from the earth 
and how great are the industries that prepare them for the 
uses of man. 



CHAPTEK XI 

THE UNITED STATES-iContinued) 
Distribution of manufactures — The leading industries. 

Profits on manufactures. — The profits made on manu- 
factured goods are much larger than on raw materials. 
Suppose we should sell a large amount of pig iron to Eng- 
land ; as pig iron is cheap our profit could not be large ; 
but the English would turn the pig iron into steel, and the 
steel into needles, scissors, rails, wire, machinery, and hun- 
dreds of other things that are in great demand. The 
needles, scissors, and many other articles would be worth 
hundreds of times as much as the iron we sold. All these 
articles would pay a good profit, and the English would reap 
all the benefit of increasing the value of the raw material 
we sent to them. 

The United States first in manufactures. — For many years 
we have been the greatest agricultural nation, because 
we produce far more breadstuffs, meats, and raw cotton 
than any other country. But it was not till the last years 
of the nineteenth century that we became the greatest 
manufacturing nation of the world. The country's mar- 
velous increase in wealth is due to the fact that it not only 
produces the greatest quantity of raw materials, but also 
manufactures most of them at home; the value of our 
manufactures is nearly double that of the manufactures of 
Great Britain. Nine-tenths of all the products of our 
thousands of mills and shops is consumed at home, yet we 
have a large surplus for export. 

123 



124 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Regions of largest manufactures. — There are numerous 
reasons why one region may have a great many factories 
and shops while another district has but few of them. In 
the first place the greatest number of factories are usually 
found where the largest population lives, for there are found 
the largest supply of labor and the greatest number of 
buyers for the products. Study the distribution of popula- 
tion shown in Fig. 74. The areas covered by the two 




Fig. 74. 



darker shades show where the population is most dense ; 
it is there that the largest part of our manufactures is 
produced. Eailroads cover these regions like a fine net- 
work. Because the vast population needs large supplies 
of everything, there is abundant transportation to bring 
raw materials to the factories and to send goods from them 
to the markets. 

Factories near sources of supplies. — Many factories are 
also placed near the sources of supply of the raw materials 
used ; thus the greatest iron industries are in Pennsylvania, 
near the largest source of the coke used in iron smelting ; 



THE UNITED STATES 



125 



the most flour is milled on the edge of the hard wheat 
region of Minnesota ; the greatest center of cotton manu- 
factures is on Xarragansett Bay, where raw cotton and coal 
may be cheaply delivered by water ; and hundreds of cotton- 
mills in the Southern States now work up the product of 
the neighboring fields. Peach canning is largest in the 
peach-growing regions of California, Marj'land, New York, 
Delaware, and Michigan. Salmon is canned on the Pacific 
coast and in Alaska, where the fish are caught. Lumber and 
news paper mills are mostly near the forests of pine, spruce, 
and other timber. Most of the New Jersey and Georgia 
peaches are sent to New York and other markets as fresh 
fruits. 

Poicer. — Power to drive the mills is a great influence in 
determining where they shall be built. The many water- 




FiQ. 75.— A fine water-power. 



falls in New England rivers were a great source of power 
hefore the days of steam ; this fact gave that part pf the 



126 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOaRAPHT 

country the supremacy in manufactures which it still holds. 
Waterfalls made manufacturing cities of Trenton, Phila^ 
delphia, Eichmond, and many other places. Water-power 
will soon be of greater importance than ever as electrical 
transmittance of power is perfected (Fig. 75). 

Coal. — As coal makes steam-power, the greatest manu- 
factures are in regions where coal may be cheaply obtained. 
A large stove factory in a prairie town of the West proved 
to be a failure, because it cost so much to bring coal and 
cast iron that the factory could not compete with others 
which were nearer those supplies. 

Variety of manufactures. — As population increases there 
is a demand for larger variety of goods, and many new 
forms of industry are introduced. Not many years ago the 
Western States made little except farm machinery and 
other articles for hard, every-day use ; they now make a 
great many of their pianos ; a large number of the gold and 
silver watches made in this country come from Illinois 
factories, and there are only four cities which make more 
jewelry than San Francisco produces. All the home mar- 
kets are thus being supplied with more and more things 
that are made near to them. 

Our manufacturing advantages. — When Great Britain, 
Germany, France, and Belgium mined more coal than we 
produced, had larger capital with which to build and 
operate factories, and better transport facilities, they made 
more goods and sold more to foreign countries than the 
United States. We have now all the advantages they 
possess, excepting cheap labor; and thousands of labor- 
saving machines, invented in this country, enable it to 
pay good wages and still compete with the products of 
European cheap labor in all foreign markets. One man, 
for example, can produce as much cotton cloth to-day 
as several hundred people could weave a century ago. 
Making cotton goods and many hundreds of other things, 
both well and cheaply, we are able not only to supply 



THE UNITED STATES 127 

the home markets, but also to sell to millions of people 
in foreign lands. 

Our greatest manufactures. — In 1914 the value of our 
iron and steel products was greater than that of any other of 
our manufactures. The meat industries, lumber, flour, and 
cotton goods came next ; earlier chapters in this book have 
told about these and other industries. A few other great 
manufactures not yet mentioned will now be briefly de- 
scribed. 

Boots and s7ioes.—We make far more leather footwear 
than any other country. Two-thirds of the boots and shoes 
come from factories in Massachusetts and other Xew Eng- 
land States, though great quantities are made in New 
York city, Eochester, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St. Louis. 
Brockton, Mass., is the greatest shoemaking town in the 
world, and Boston, handling nearly all the Xew England 
goods, is the largest shoe-distributing center in the country. 
The cobbler used to make boots and shoes on a lap-stone, ply- 
ing the hammer and knife, and sewing by hand. Machinery 
has done away with all these primitive methods, and so 
reduced the cost of production that we can make some 
grades of shoes much cheaper than they are made in Ger- 
many, though we pay larger wages. Our exports are grow- 
ing rapidly; even England and Germany, although both 
countries are great makers of shoes, buy many of our 
products. 

Leather. — No country which makes a great deal of 
leather has hides enough at home to supply its needs. The 
millions of cattle killed in the United States provide only 
a part of the leather required by our trade. This country 
and some European states import large quantities of hides, 
mainly from Argentina, Uruguay, and some European 
countries. When these hides reach the tanner he cleanses 
them, removes the hair, and then applies hemlock or oak 
bark, or other tanning stuffs, which act upon the gelatin in 
the hides, and convert them into leather. A method of tan- 
9 



128 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ning by the use of chromium compounds, applied in Phila- 
delphia about fifty years ago, produced a superior leather, 
and made that city the largest leather manufactory in the 
world. Millions of kids and lambs, particularly in south 
Europe, supply skins for kid gloves. Morocco leather is 
made of goatskins. Horse hides and pigskins make the 
best saddles ; the skins of many other animals are also used 
in the leather industry. We export a great deal of leather, 
mainly to Great Britain and other European countries ; our 
imports, however, are much smaller. France exports more 
goods made of leather than any other country, chiefly be- 
cause her kid gloves are in such wide demand. 

Machinery. — This country makes more machinery than 
any other, because nowhere else has hand labor been so 
far supplanted by machinery as in the United States. 
Foundries and shops for making machinery are widely 
scattered over the Northern States. American seeders, 
self-binding reapers, plows, and threshing-machines are 
known and used in most foreign countries. About one- 
fourth of the value of the machinery we make is in farm 
machines and implements. The largest factories for these 
farm machines are in western New York, in the Lake 
regions, and in the Mississippi Valley, where the farming 
interests are greatest. The leading countries of Europe, 
Argentina, Canada, and Australia buy a great many of 
our mowers, reapers, plows, cultivators, and other farm 
machines. Making automobiles is now a great industry. 

The life of a locomotive is about twenty years. As our 
thirty great works for building locomotives are able to turn 
out over 3,000 a year, while we need for use on our own 
railroads only about 2,500 annually, we are able to make 
many machines for Great Britain, Siberia, Sweden, France, 
Egypt, and other countries. 

More than thirty companies make sewing-machines, and 
as our machines compete successfully with all foreign 
makes, the United States sells a great many abroad. We 



THE UNITED STATES 129 

now import very little hardware except cutlery, because 
our nails, hinges, tools, locks, wire, and many other products 
are so cheap and excellent that they not only fill the home 
demand, but are bought by foreign countries. 

As long as ships were built of wood we were one of the 
greatest ship-building nations ; but when iron and steel 
took the place of wood in ship-building our industry lan- 
guished, because we could not compete with England, 
which made cheaper iron and steel. Now that we produce 
those products cheaply, our ship-building has revived, and 
the great yards at Philadelphia, Sparrow Point, Md., San 
Francisco, Cleveland, and other cities on the seaboard or 
Great Lakes are turning out many iron or steel ships. 

Most of our ready-made clothing for men and boys is 
made in the large cities, New York leading with 50,000 
tailors engaged in the industry. The business is peculiar 
in that it is usually carried on not in large factories, but in 
small shops or in the homes of the tailors ; thus one manu- 
facturer may have his goods made in hundreds of different 
buildings. The reason for this is, that little work is done 
at some periods of the year, and manufacturers do not wish 
to invest in large factories that would be idle a part of the 
time. The small shops and workrooms, consuming the 
enormous output of our woolen-cloth mills, make two-thirds 
of the clothing worn by men and boys in this country, the 
remainder coming from the tailors who make suits to 
order. 

Most parts of the country have sand adapted for glass- 
making, of which we produce so much that we import far less 
than Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, or Great Britain, 
all of which are great glass-manufacturing countries. • 

Only a few of our manufactures have been mentioned 
in this and previous chapters ; but a sufficient number have 
been included to give an idea of the enormous develop- 
ment and variety of our manufacturing industries, whose 
total product now so surpasses that of any other nation. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE UNITED ST AlES-iContinued) 
Transportation, seaports and other trade centers. 



Large transport facilities. — When thousands of gold seek- 
ers flocked to California in 1849 they were months on the 

way, toiling painfully over the 
dusty plains with pack ani- 
mals and wagons (Figs. 76 and 
77) ; but the journey across 
the continent is now made 
by fast express trains in less 
than five days (Fig. 78). Our 
country could never have be- 
come the great commercial 
nation it is if many railroads 
had not been built, even in 
the thinly settled regions, so 
that (1) freight may be car- 
ried very quickly from every 
part of our country to every 
other; (2) the prices charged 
for carriage are, on the whole, 
the lowest land freight rates 
in the world. 

Freight rates are cheaper 
still on the Great Lakes, the navigable parts of our rivers, 
and the canals, which provide about 20,000 miles of water 
navigation. 

130 




Fig. 76,— Across the continent, 1849. 



THE UNITED STATES 



131 




Fig. 



-A " prairie 'schooner/' 



Think how wonderfully we profit by our vast system of 
cheap land and water transportation ! Argentina raises her 
export wheat within 100 miles of the steamships on the 
Rio de la Plata that 
carry it to Europe ; we 
must send our export 
wheat 1,000 miles to 
the sea, but cheap 
freight charges help to 
overcome this disad- 
vantage. All the large 
factories of Great Brit- 
ain are within 50 miles of a seaport, but our low freight 
charges help factories in the Mississippi Valley to compete 
in foreign markets with British goods. Our transportation 
system thus helps to enlarge our export trade. 

Railroads. — More than a third of all the railroads in the 
w^orld are in this country (Fig. 79). Observe in Fig. 80 the 
great lines extending east and west across the continent — 
the Groat Xorthern, from St. Paul to Seattle ; the Xorthern 

Pacific, from St. 
Paul and Duluth 
to Seattle ; the 
Union and Central 
Pacific, from Oma- 
ha to Tacoma and 
San Francisco ; the 
Atchison, TojDeka, 
and Santa Fe, from 
Chicago to San 
Francisco, and the 
Southern Pacific, from Xew Orleans to Los Angeles and 
San Francisco. These lines with their eastern connections 
form roughly parallel highways from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific Oceans. Every one of our ports on either ocean 
has rail connections with the other ocean; and all the 




Fig. 



•xi.ro: 



132 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

great trade centers of the interior, snch as Chicago, St. 
Louis, Indianapolis, and Memphis, have direct rail connec- 
tions that give them speedy access to all our ports on both 
oceans. 

East and west lines. — These lines are more important 
than any others because (1) they extend to the seaports 
having the largest coastwise and foreign sea trade, and 
(2) pass through the largest manufacturing regions where 
population is most dense, and the demand for food sup- 
plies and raw materials for the factories is greatest. 



1830 
•1850 
1370 
1890 
1896 
1899 
,1907 



Fig. 79. — Growth of railroads in the United States, in thousand miles. 

North and south lines. — The increase in the population, 
and in the cotton, sugar, furniture, and other manufactures 
of the Southern States, and the growing ocean trade of the 
Gulf of Mexico ports, are constantly making the north and 
south lines of railroad more important. They carry export 
grain to N"ew Orleans and Galveston for shipment, and thus, 
by competing with the east and west lines, help to keep the 
grain freight rates at a low figure. 

Freight cars. — About 2,000,000, freight cars are running 
on our railroads. They carry much over a billion tons of 
freight every year to all parts of the land. If they were 
placed end to end they would make a solid train from New 
York to Chicago ; then across the great plains to San Fran- 
cisco, and on again over the Pacific through the Hawaiian 
Islands to Tokio, the capital of Japan ; from Tokio to Hong- 
kong, and from there to Manila, the chief city of our most 
distant possessions, the Philippine Islands. In the fall 



134 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



and winter, when wheat and maize shipments to Europe are 
very heavy, thousands of these cars bring loads of grain to 
the seaports and return empty to the west for more grain. 
In the spring another story may sometimes be told. In 
April, 1892, for example, after the grain shipments fell off, 
scarcely sufficient freight cars could be obtained to move 
eastern manufactures rapidly enough to the western buy- 
ers, while thousands of empty cars returned east for more 
goods. This state of affairs showed that the country was 
prosperous, nearly everybody having considerable money 
with which to buy manufactured articles. 

Powerful locomotives attached to large steel or wooden 
freight cars, and running on heavy steel rails, haul from 
40,000 to 50,000 bushels of wheat or maize in one train. 

The Great Lakes. — These lakes, commercially the most 
important fresh-water lakes in the world, carry far more 
freight than all our rivers together. Some of the lake 
steamers are larger than many ocean steamships, carrying 
6,000 tons of iron ore or 250,000 bushels of wheat at a load. 
The lakes form a splendid east and west highway, 1,000 
miles long, from Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, to 

the St. Lawrence River, at 
the foot of Lake Ontario. 
This river, and the Erie 
Canal, from Buffalo to the 
Hudson, give the lakes two 
fine water outlets to the 
sea, so that a great deal of 
grain, lumber, and other 
heavy commodities is car- 
ried by water from the 
heart of the continent to 
the Atlantic at cheaper 
rates for freight than they 
can be carried by rail (page 28). As the rapids in the 
St. Marys River, between Lakes Superior and Huron, pre- 




FiG. 81.— The Soo and Canadian canals. 

The Soo Canal carries nine-tenths of the 
freight and most of the passenger busi- 
ness ; its freight tonnage in 1905 (over 
43,000,000 tons) was more than five 
times that of 1889. 



136 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

vented navigation, two canals were built, the Soo (United 
States) and Canadian canals, more than five times as many 
vessels passing through these canals every year as through 
the Suez Canal (Fig. 81). 

The largest freight movement from west to east, through 
the lakes, is iron ore, copper, lumber, wheat, and flour ; the 
largest movement from east to west is coal and general 
merchandise, mostly bound for Chicago, Detroit, and the 
upper lake ports. 

Rivers. — The National Government expends a large sum 
of money every year to improve river navigation. It is 
expected that, before very long, such improvements will 
enable New Orleans to obtain coal by cheap water-routes 
from Alabama mines. Observe in Fig. 82 the short stretches 
of river navigation on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, by 
which, in the Southern States, cotton, lumber, and other 
products are brought down to the seaports. 

The short Hudson Eiver carries more freight than any 
other river in the country, extended as it is by the Erie 

Canal to Chicago and 
Duluth, making the 
commerce of the Great 
Lakes directly tributary 
to the Hudson. 

The Ohio, coming 
from a great region of 
iron, steel, coal, and 

Fio. 83.-Mississippi steamer. machinery, distributes 

among the towns on its 
banks freight weighing as much as all the grain, lumber, 
and other products floated on the Mississippi. The Ohio 
coal fleets, 30 to 40 barges towed by a single steamer, carry 
coal from Pittsburg to New Orleans at rates that are among 
the lowest freight charges in the world (Fig. 83). 

The Delaware comes after the Ohio and Mississippi, 
most of its commerce being ocean freight to and from 




THE UNITED STATES 



137 



Philadelphia. Our map shows that only about 900 miles 
of river navigation is tributary to the Pacific Ocean. On 
the whole, our rivers carry an enormous amount of freight, 
and by their competition with many railroads, help to keep 
land transportation rates at a low figure. 

Canals. — The leading canals are indicated in Fig. 82. 
Their importance has declined with the growth of rail- 




FiG. 84. — A Lock on a Canal. 
At the locks the boats are raised or lowered to the increased or diminished level 

of the water. 



roads, and many of the small canals have been abandoned. 
The most useful among them is the Erie Canal, which brings 
grain, lumber, iron, coal, and other heavy and bulky prod- 
ucts from the West, and sends from the East merchandise 
that will bear slow transportation. It united the Atlantic 
with the Great Lakes before the days of railroads, and made 
New York our greatest seaport. The canal has now been 
enlarged so that it accommodates larger boats; and steam 
power is used instead of animal traction, so that the journey 
may be made more speedily. 




138 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Ocean routes. — The coasting trade of the United States 
is the largest in the world. New York, Boston, Phila- 
delphia, and Baltimore are each connected by steamship 
lines with other Atlantic and Gulf ports; San Francisco 
also has a large sea trade with Portland, Ore., and the Puget 
Sound ports. The coasting trade is reserved by law to ves- 
sels under the American flag. 

Our near-by foreign ocean trade is with Canada and 
Latin- American ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Carib- 
bean Sea. It is less than one- 
fifth of our foreign sea trade, 
and half of it is carried in our 
own vessels. 

Our deep-sea trade with far- 
off countries is over four-fifths 
of our total foreign commerce, 
only about one-twelfth of it be- 
„ „^ „ 1 ^ 1, /, 1 in£f carried in United States ves- 

FiG. 85.— Ocean vessel at her dock. & 

sels ; but our shipyards are now 
adding new vessels every year to our deep-sea merchant 
marine, and it is hoped that before many years, as before 
the civil war, we shall again transport a very large part 
of our deep-sea trade (Fig. 85). 

Seaports.— The greatest seaports are on our northern 
Atlantic coast, facing the Old World, and nearest to the 
leading commercial nations of Europe which are our best 
customers. 

New York, the second largest city and port in the world, 
has a greater number of regular steamship connections with 
Europe, from Scandinavia to Italy, than all our other ports 
together. About fifty steamers in the foreign trade leave 
New York every week, carrying a third of all our exports ; 
and on the return voyages they bring more than a half of 
all the imports of the country. New York is the greatest 
outlet for breadstuffs, provisions (as the meat and dairy 
products are called), and kerosene. These products and 



THE UNITED STATES 139 

cotton form half of its exports. Most of the coffee, dry- 
goods, rubber, wine, and many other articles come in 
throngh Xew York. Nearly all our seaports develop manu- 
facturing in proportion to their population, New York 
being the largest manufacturing city in the country. 

Boston, our second port in importance, is a large cotton, 
leather, and wool market. It has a very large part of the 
export and import trade of Xew England, and ships many 
Western food products to foreign countries. 

Philadelphia, the third port, is on the Delaware, 120 
miles from the sea, the river being deep enough to carry 
vessels to the port at low tide, making Philadelphia one of 
the finest of river seaports. The port has regular connec- 
tions with Liverpool and Antwerp, and imports a great 
deal of wool for the carpet factories, and raw sugar from 
the West Indies to be refined. 

Baltimore, the fourth of our great world ports, 160 
miles from the sea, is nearer to the Mississippi Valley than 
is Xew York, is second in the export of maize, flour, and 
tobacco, and is surpassed only by Xew Y^ork and Boston in 
the export of wheat. The fact that it is the center of the 
largest source of oysters in the world, and of one of the 
finest fruit regions of the country, adds much to its ship- 
ping business. 

Galveston is the largest cotton shipping port in the 
world. Xew Orleans, 10 T miles from the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, being the second. Many other Atlantic and Gulf 
ports have important coastal and foreign trade for the 
regions directly tributary to them. 

The larger part of the wheat, lumber, flour, and other 
exports of San Francisco go to Europe; the larger part of 
the imports come from Asia and the territory of Hawaii. 
It receives nearly all the raw sugar of Hawaii, is the largest 
importer of teas and raw silk from China and Japan, and 
has the chief share of the Australian trade. Though San 
Pranci^eo is the central distributing point for all the Pacific 



140 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

coast, the Puget Sound ports, Portland, Ore., and San Diego 
are steadily increasing the volume of their sea trade. 

Lake ports. — With the vast mineral, forest, and agricul- 
tural resources around the Great Lakes, it is natural that 
many of our most important cities should be situated on 
their shores. Their position and the resources near at hand 
give many of them special advantages in the lumber, flour, 
ship- building, and a few other industries. 

Duluth, Superior, and the iron-ore shipping ports (Fig. 
68) are the main points for collecting and distributing the 
commercial products tributary to Lake Superior. 

Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, and 
Buffalo are the main points for collecting and distributing 
the commercial products tributary to the other lakes. 

Chicago, the great trade center of the north-central part 
of the United States, is the second city in the country. It 
is the largest meat-packing point, and the largest distrib- 
utor of grain, meat products, and lumber in the world, and 
has many manufacturing industries. Duluth, Superior, and 
Milwaukee, after Chicago, are the largest shippers of grain. 

Cleveland is the chief lake port of Ohio, and has ship- 
building and many other large industries. Buffalo is the 
great eastern terminus of the lake trade, except that which 
passes through the Erie Canal to the Hudson, or through 
the Welland Canal into Lake Ontario. Many lines of rail- 
roads center at all these lake ports and compete with the 
steamers for the carrying trade, and especially for the ship- 
ments of grain and lumber. Even though rail freight 
charges are somewhat higher, practically all the provisions 
and the larger part of the grain are carried by rail, as rapid 
transit is desired. 

River ports.— St. Louis is the largest river port in the 
country, being the commercial center of the Mississippi 
Valley, and therefore attracting a great trade. It com- 
mands more of the Mexican trade than any other city. A 
town was sure to rise at the large bend of the Ohio where 



THE UNITED STATES 141 

river freight not destined for the new direction the Ohio 
takes was put on shore for the land routes ; this fact gave 
rise to Cincinnati, the chief port of the Ohio Valley. The 
two rivers that form the Ohio bring coal to Pittsburg ; coke 
is near at hand, and the short rail routes from Lake Erie 
supply iron ore : these facts have made Pittsburg the great- 
est center of the iron and steel industries. The rapids in 
the Ohio, before they were improved, required the trans- 
shipment of freight between the river and land routes 
which gave rise to the city of Louisville, a large manufac- 
turing and commercial point. The great stock- and grain- 
raising region tributary to Kansas City made it, after 
Chicago, the largest meat-packing center in the world, 
Omaha being third in this industry. A large town is sure 
to rise at the head of navigation on important rivers ; to 
this fact St. Paul, Albany, and many other cities owe their 
commercial importance. Memphis, at the head of naviga- 
tion for the largest vessels on the Mississippi, is naturally 
the chief commercial point between St. Louis and New 
Orleans. 

Many of our cities like Indianapolis, Denver, Fort Worth, 
Tex., and others, that have no great rivers at their doors, owe 
their prosperity to the fact that they are great railroad cen- 
ters which make them collecting and distributing points 
for a large district around them. Many other cities have 
arisen all over the country at central points for trade or at 
places where goods may be manufactured most cheaply. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE UNITED STATES— (Continued) 
Foreign trade of the country— The world's trade. 

Our total foreign trade. — The products which the United 
States sold to foreign countries in 1913 and the products 
it brought from them were worth more than $4/278,000,000. 
This great sum is over twice the value of all the goods 
produced in the 40,000 factories and shops of New York 
City in one year. Every work-day, from January to Decem- 
ber, products worth over $13,000,000 came into the country 
or passed out of it. No other country, except Great Britain, 
sold so much to other nations; no other countries, except 
Great Britain and Germany, bought so much from other 
nations. In our foreign trade, therefore, we are included 
in the three leading nations ; but if we count in our domes- 
tic trade also (page 3), the United States heads the list of 
all trading peoples. 

More exports than imports. — We sell to foreign countries 
much more than we buy from them (1) because we are the 
largest supplier of many of the necessities and conveniences 
of life, such as food, cotton, and kerosene; (2) our heavy 
tariff upon many foreign goods makes the cost of importing 
them so high that they can not be sold here in competition 
with similar products of our own country; (3) our machin- 
ery and skill in using it have so increased our power to pro- 
duce good, cheap manufactures, that we are now able to 
sell millions of dollars' worth of these goods in foreign 
lands; (4) we are depending less and less upon foreign 
143 



THE UNITED STATES 143 

products — for example, European makers of silks, glass, 
watches, and woolen goods have lost a great deal of trade 
since our own mills and factories began to supply us with 
most of these things ; we once depended upon southern 
Europe for lemons and oranges which are now a large 
product of California ; we are producing our own wines, 
raisins, prunes, and olive-oil, and are even selling them in 
other lands. 

It is not natural, however, that one country should 
always sell to other countries a great deal more than it buys 
from them. Some day there will be a more even balance 
between the vahie of our sales to other lands and our pur- 
chases from them. This day is rapidly approaching. 

Xearly a third of our exports are manufactured goods \ 
nearly two-thirds are the foodstuffs of our farms and graz- 
ing lands, and the cotton of our Southern plantations: 
forest products, the mineral industries, including kerosene, 
and the fisheries, make up the remainder of our sales 
abroad. 

Europe is not only the greatest customer for our prod- 
ucts, but every other continent buys little from us as com- 
pared with Europe. More than two-thirds of everything 
we sold abroad in 1900 went to European countries ; and 
the little islands of Great Britain bought nearly half of all 
we sold to Europe. These facts show that though trade is 
world-wide, most of it will always be between the nations 
that have reached the highest industrial development ; they 
also show why the Atlantic far surpasses all other seas as a 
commerce carrier. 

After Europe, the rest of Xorth America is the largest 
buyer of United States exports, our neighbor Canada tak- 
ing about half of them, the West Indies more than one- 
fourth, Mexico one-sixth, and Central America the remain- 
der. Asia is the next largest buyer, with Japan, China, 
and India as the best customers. South America follows, 

with Argentina and Brazil buying about one-half of the 
10 



144 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

products we sell to that continent ; then come Oceania and 
Africa, the latter buying only about a fifth as much as we 
sell to Canada. 

Imports. — Nearly one-half of the imports are raw ma- 
terials for our mills and factories, such as silk, hides and 
skins, tin, and rubber; or partly manufactured materials, from 
which we make many products, as raw sugar and leather, 
jute, henequen and other fibers. Every day we expend a 
million dollars for these and other materials for our fac- 
tories and workshops. Many of these things come from 
Europe, as well as from tropical and other temperate 
regions ; they are substances which we do not produce at 
all, or in insufiicient quantities. Coffee, tea, cacao, and 
tropical fruits make another large part of our imports. 

Europe sells to us a little more than one-half of our 
purchases from other lands. Great Britain is the largest 
source of our foreign supplies, Germany being second, 
France third, Brazil, with its coffee and rubber, fourth, and 
Japan, with its silks and distinctive manufactures, fifth. 

Since we are constantly increasing our manufactures, 
the tendency is to buy from other countries more raw mate- 
rials for our industries and fewer manufactured products. 
Great Britain is by far the largest foreign market in which 
we sell and buy, because that country needs large quantities 
of our cotton and foodstuffs, amounting, in value, to about 
one-fourth of all her overseas purchases; while we still find 
it advantageous to buy from her a great many manufactures. 

Growth of the world's trade. — The volume of trade be- 
tween all the countries of the world has doubled in the 
past forty years. There are many reasons for this vast in- 
crease in commerce. The population of the world, now 
estimated at 1,500,000,000, is continually growing. It is 
believed that all the people of Europe at the beginning of 
the Christian era numbered only about half of the present 
population of European Eussia alone. Commerce has also 
been extended to parts of the world which a century ago 



THE UNITED STATES 



145 



were inhabited only by barbarous tribes, or by nations like 
China and Japan, that would not trade with other peoples. 
Above all, steam-power applied to many forms of machinery 
has made it possible to produce many of the things we use 
so cheaply that a great many articles which once were 
luxuries enjoyed by the few are now found in every home. 
In recent years it has been the fortune of the United 
States, with its enormous production of cheap food and 
cheap machine-made goods, and its vast purchases of raw 
materials, to swell the number of buyers and sellers in 
every land, thus increasing the volume of the world's ever- 
growing !:rade. 




Fig. 86.— Primitive and modern commerce. 



CHAPTER XIV 

COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES 
Porto Rico, Territory of Hawaii, Guam, Tutuila, the Philippines. 

Porto Rico. — This is the smallest and most eastern island 
of the Greater Antilles (Fig. 87). Because of its fertility 
and healthfulness, the population is large in proportion to 
the extent of the island, which is hardly greater than our 
two smallest States — Delaware and Ehode Island — and is 
considerably smaller than Connecticut. Here a million 
people live in a climate which, from the constant trade- 
winds blowing from the east, is superior to that of the 
neighboring isle of Cuba. The population is becoming too 
dense and the question of relief through emigration is be- 
ginning to be discussed. 

Topography. — A range of low mountains extends east 
and west, a little south of the center, forming the water 
parting between the north and south rivers. As the moist 
trade-winds precipitate most of their rain on the north 
slope of the mountains, the northern part is better watered 
than the southern part. The northern streams are larger 
than those of the south, and are navigated by flatboats, 
barges, and canoes, which carry the produce of the interior 
to the towns on the north coast. Mne-tenths of the island 
is covered with hills or low mountains, but there are rich 
plains near the low coasts ; the only very good harbors are 
San Juan in the north and Playa in the south. 

The people. — Descendants of early Spanish settlers of 
the better class, called Creoles, live in the towns and carry 
146 



COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES 



147 



on the island trade. The white peasantry (Gibaros) form- 
ing most of the population, live mainly on small farms or 
garden patches in the rural districts. The negro population 
is small. 

Vegetable products. — Only a little over one-fifth of the 
island is under cultivation. The methods of tillage are 




Fig. 87.— Porto Eico. 
San Juan is the capital and largest city. Ponce, the second city, is a busy trading 
and shipping point. Playa, accommodating vessels of 25 feet draught, is the 
port of Ponce, and the best seaport, but San Juan has the larger commercial 
movement. It is difficult for ships to enter the narrow harbor of San Juan when 
a norther blows. Mayaguez. the third city, is second only to San Juan in coffee 
exports, and receives a third of the flour sent to the island. Aguadilla prepares 
coffee for export and makes rum from molasses. Arecibo is merely an open 
roadstead, but the Rio Grande makes it a center for receiving and distributing 
commodities. Fajardo and Arroyo export raw sugar and molasses. Industries, 
confined mainly to these ports and the inland towns of San German and Naguabo, 
include the preparation of sugar and coffee for market, and the manufacture of 
tobacco, chocolate (at Mayaguez), soap, matches, brooms, rum, straw hats, and 
petroleum refining (at San Juan). 

rnde and primitive. Many farmers use a large sword-like 
knife, called a machete, to cut down cane and weeds, and 
even to dig in the soil. The largest crop long was coffee, 
but it is now far surpassed by the sugar crop. As a rule 
coffee, all over the world, is grown on the uplands. This 
is true in Porto Eico, where the best coffee is all produced 
from 700 to 2,500 feet above the sea. The coffee planters 
are very careful of their shrubs, shading them from the 
heat of the tropical sun, and producing a berry which is 



148 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



famous for its exquisite flavor. Sugar-cane, the next most 
important crop, is grown on the lowlands, and occupies 
about one-fifth of the tilled lands. The best tobacco is 
produced in the mountain regions of the interior. A great 

variety of fruits 
and vegetables 
is grown in 
the small crops. 
The forest areas, 
mostly confined 
to the moun- 
tains, are small, 
and considera- 
ble lumber for 
buildings is im- 
ported. 

There are 
many cattle, 
but the animal 
industries are 
not important. 
Figure 87 shows 
the location of 
the mineral com- 
modities, which 

Fig. 86.— Making h^cs in Porto Rico. are aS yet little 

developed. All 
the salt is supplied by evaporating brine, and gypsum is 
used for stucco and fertilizers. 

A fine wagon road extends from San Juan to Ponce, but 
most transportation is by pack animals along poor paths. 
Our Government is building new roads, and it is expected, 
some day, to extend the existing railroads entirely around 
the coasts. 

With coffee, sugar, tobacco, and fruit as its leading prod- 
ucts, should you not suppose that the densely peopled is- 




COLONIES OP THE UNITED STATES 149 

land needs to import a great deal of food ? This is the case. 
Food makes up nearly half the imports. The island ex- 
pends millions of dollars a year for our breadstuffs, provis- 
ions, rice, and cured fish, besides buying food from the 
other West Indies, Canada, and Spain. 

As manufactures are small, cotton goods, shoes, and iron 
and steel products are imported from the United States, 
England, and Germany. Porto Eico pays for all these pur- 
chases, amounting sometimes to $25,000,000 a year, with 
sugar, coffee, tobacco, honey, and a few other exports. It 
is to the advantage of the island that it has free trade with 
the United States — the mother country ; as the roads are 
improved, and resources developed, commerce will rapidly 
grow between our country and its colony. Straw hats some- 
what resembling Panama hats is a large house-industry. 
Many of them are now sent to the United States (Fig. 88). 

Territory of Hawaii. — Eight of the eleven volcanic is- 
lands of the Hawaiian group are inhabited (Fig. 89). 
Though their land surface is less than twice as large as 
Porto Eico, their area is about as great as that of all the 
other Polynesian islands, and their trade is much larger. 
The geographical position of Hawaii is of great importance, 
for it stands as the cross-roads of commerce in the central 
Pacific, where many steamers in the American, Asian, and 
Australian trade regularly stop on their voyages. Honolulu 
was once the headquarters for Pacific whalers, and is now 
a coaling station for all nations (Fig. 90). 

The northeast trade-winds, blowing for ten months a 
year, make the climate ten degrees cooler than in any other 
land in the same latitude. Much more rain falls on the north- 
ern than on the southern side of the mountains, but most 
of the tilled lands usually have enough rain for the crops. 

The people.— The inhabitants (192,000 in 1910) live 
mostly along the coasts ; the native Hawaiians — a fourth of 
the population — are declining in number ; three-sevenths 
are Chinese and Japanese laborers ; the remainder are 



150 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



15,000 Portuguese artisans and laborers, and 8,000 Ameri- 
cans, British and Germans. Planting, commercial and 
financial interests are mainly in the hands of settlers from 
the United States and their descendants. 




Fig. 89.— Honolulu is an important way station between Australia and Asia on one 
side and America on the other, being connected by regular steamship lines with 
the three continents (Fig. 1), Steamers and sailing vessels ply between Honolulu 
and other island ports, carrying merchandise to the islands and bringing their 
sugar and other export products to the capital for shipment. Hilo, on Hawaii, is 
the second port in importance. All the islands have one or more little ports, but 
until 1902 none except Honolulu had direct steam communications with America 
or foreign lands. Kalaupapa and Kalawao, near it, are the leper settlements on 
Molokai. 

Products. — The islands are wholly dependent upon agri- 
culture. Raw cane-sugar is the staple product. Much of 
the low, rich lands between the mountains and the sea is 
divided among the sugar estates, each haying its own ma- 
chinery for converting the juice into raw sugar. Sugar- 
cane has just been introduced into Molokai and Lanai, 
making six islands which now grow this crop. About 
600,000 tons of raw sugar are produced every year; only 
Cuba and Java surpass these islands in the production of 
cane-sugar (Fig. 29). Both rich and poor buy stock in the 



COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES 



151 



sugar plantations, all of which are owned by stock com- 
panies. As in all lands that depend almost wholly upon 
one industry, the comfort of the people is affected by any 
change in sugar production or prices. Every one is poorer 
if the price of sugar falls. 

The lowest flat lands, close to the sea, have been turned 
by the Chinese into rice-fields — the second largest crop — 
most of the grain being consumed at home, though an im- 
portant amount is annually exported. The coffee industry, 
although still very young, produces a fine quality of berry 
that supplies the home need, with a small surplus for ex- 
port. The chief fruits are the banana and pineapple — 
both exported to the United States and Canada. Cattle 
raising has thus far supplied the meat and milk consumed, 
but butter is imported. 




Fig. 90.— Harbor ot Honolulu. 



Commerce. — Eaw sugar, sent to California refineries to 
the amount of over $35,000,000 a year, is nineteen-twen- 
tieths of the exports. The value of the imports is usually 



152 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

about half that of the exports. As the islands have prac- 
tically no industries not related to agriculture, they buy 
large quantities of cloths, hardware, machinery, and other 
manufactures. As the forests have been destroyed without 
replanting, all lumber is now imported from the United 
States. Australia supplies the lack of coal. 

Long before the islands became a part of our country, 
they were closely bound to us by business relations. Trade 
is free between our ports and the Territory. We have not 
only nearly all of the export, but also three-fourths of the 
import trade, Great Britain, our nearest competitor, sup- 
plying about one-tenth of the manufactured goods. 

Guam. — This island (390 square miles), the largest in 
the Ladrone group, has 12,500 inhabitants, of whom over 
6,000 live in the city of Agana. The only good harbor is San 
I^uis d'Apra. Eice, the largest product, fish, and cocoanuts 
are the staple articles of food; copra is the only export. It 
was ceded to the United States in 1898. 

Tutuila. — This island and the islets of the Manua group 
are our possessions in Samoa. Tutuila (54 square miles, 
7,250 inhabitants) has in Pago-Pago Bay one of the finest 
harbors in the Pacific. We have made it a coaling station. 
Copra is the largest export. 

The Philippines. — These islands, the largest group in the 
Malay Archipelago, have a land surface about equal to that 
of the 'New England States, New York, and New Jersey (Fig. 
91). If their northern edge were placed on New York city, 
their southern edge would touch Cuba. Volcanic mountain- 
ranges run throughout the islands from north to south. 
The narrow valleys between the mountains, and the broad, 
well-watered plains along the coasts, or between the ranges 
where they spread apart, are the regions where crops are 
raised and most of the people live. The climate is tropical. 

The people.— The inhabitants (8,000,000) are mostly Ma- 
layan, but are divided into many tribes, some of whom are 
not friendly to one another. The Moros of the south, for 



COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES 



153 




Fig. 91. 



example, have never been on good terms with the Visayas 
of the center or the fighting Tagals of the north. One of 
the problems before our Government is to maintain peace 



154 



ELEMENTARY COMMEECIAL GEOGRAPHY 



among the tribes so that they may all share the blessings 
of civilization. The people living north of the tenth par- 
allel (Fig. 91) are most advanced, and foreign trade is 
mainly confined to their part of the archipelago. About 




Fig, 92. — Fishing boats in the Philippines. 



50,000 Chinese are laborers and traders in the seaports and 
towns; the small white population includes many Ameri- 
cans and Spaniards. 

Vegetable products. — N"ot more than a third of the sur- 
face is adapted for tillage, but the present production may 
be increased tenfold. Large quantities of Manila hemp 
(page 94) are grown from Luzon to Negros and sent to 
many little harbors, called hemp ports, for shipment to 
Manila, Ilo-ilo, or Cebu, where the crop is loaded on for- 
eign steamships. The best tobacco, of fine quality, is 
raised in north Luzon, and shipped to Manila to be turned 
into millions of cigars and cheroots, which, the Orient be- 
lieves, are as fine as the famous " Havanas." They are now 
well known in this country. Eaw sugar and copra are 
the other large articles of export. A great deal of rice is 



COLONIES OF THE UNITED STATES 155 

grown, but often not enough to feed the people, who de- 
pend upon Cochin China and other Asian rice-fields to aug- 
ment their supply. 

Tlie vast forests, containing the finest of building and 
cabinet timbers, and the gold, iron, and other mineral re- 
sources, are as 3'et little utilized. Fishing along the coasts 
supplies an enormous amount of food (Fig. 92). 

Seaports. — Three large ports collect and distribute the 
commerce of the islands, for which purpose many small 
steamers place them in regular connection with numerous 
smaller ports. Manila, on one of the finest bays in Asia, 
absorbs most of the foreign trade, but Ilo-ilo and Cebu are 
also important. Manila has direct steamship connections 
with San Francisco, Hongkong, Singapore, Yokohama, 
Australia, and Liverpool. The chief ports are connected 
by cable with San Francisco and Hongkong, and thus with 
the world's cable system. Our Government has built many 
hundreds of miles of telegraph-lines through the islands. 

Commerce. — The islands sell much more than they buy, 
about two-thirds of the foreign trade being exports. Manila 
hemp is the largest item, most of it going to the United 
States and Great Britain. China and Japan take most of 
the sugar, which is inferior, owing to poor methods of pro- 
duction ; it brings a low price. Many millions of cigars 
are sold in Asia and Europe, and increasing quantities in 
this country ; but Asia buys comparatively little leaf to- 
bacco, which is a large export to Spain and Great Britain. 
Most of the copra goes to Marseilles for soap-making. 

The islands having no manufactures except cigar-mak- 
ing, distilling, cotton spinning, and a few other industries 
at Manila, there are large imports of iron and steel goods, 
cotton cloth, glass, crockery, and other articles. 

The natives are closely related by race and character to 
the Javanese, who, under Dutch rule, have made their is- 
land one vast garden. Good government and education may 
be expected to produce similar results in the Philippines. 



CHAPTEE XV 

CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 

Divisions of Canada. — The Dominion of Canada, the most 
important colony of Great Britain, is almost as large as our 
country, including Alaska, but its population is less than 
twice that of New York city. It has room and work for 
many more millions of people. Canada may be divided 
into four great regions (Fig. 93) : 

The Forest Eegion of the southeast, extending from the 
Atlantic 2,300 miles westward, once heavily timbered, but 
millions of acres in Ontario and Quebec have been cleared 
of trees and turned into fine farms ; here are most of the 
live stock, the dairy, fruit, and lumber industries, and large 
fisheries along the coast. 

Second, the region of Plains and Prairies, extending 
from Manitoba 1,000 miles to the mountains, where most of 
the wheat is grown ; in its drier western part water is being 
led from mountain streams over the thirsty plain, turning 
parts of it into fertile farm lands. 

Third, the Mountain Eegion, 600 miles wide, extend- 
ing to the Pacific, a large source of coal, gold and other 
metals, with splendid timber on the mountainsides and rich 
agriculture in some of the valleys. 

The fourth division, much the largest, is the cold Barren 
Lands and frozen arctic areas of the north, peopled by a few 
Indians and Eskimos, of little value except for the minerals 
that will, some day, be mined. Fig. 93 shows only the 
southern regions where the richest resources abound and 
156 



CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 



157 



wliere live most 
of the Avliite 
men, chiefly of 
British descent, 
though there 
are many French 
Canadians and 
some of German 
and other nation- 
alities. 

Climate. — The 
winters of these 
southern regions 
are long and 
cold, the snow 
is deep; but the 
summers are 
long and warm 
enough to ma- 
ture crops, even 
a little maize be- 
ing raised in the 
east; so Canada 
is a great farm- 
ing country. 

Agriculture. — 
Seven - tenths of 
the people are 
farmers, produc- 
ing a great deal 
more food than 
they can con- 
sume, so that 
they have much 
to export. The 
largest food ex- 




158 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ports are wheat and wheat flour. The Western prairies, 
with their black, loamy soil, are now the great center of 
wheat raising, the grain being sent by rail or the Great 
Lakes to Montreal, where British steamships load with the 
export grain. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, where 
buffaloes grazed some fifty years ago, produced 70,000,000 
bushels of wheat in 1907. Ontario and Quebec also 
raise large quantities. Oats is a very large export crop 
from the eastern provinces. Because oats, barley, and 
rye are hardier than wheat, they thrive north of the 
wheat belt on the prairie lands as well as in the eastern 
provinces. 

The orchards of Nova Scotia and the southeastern coun- 
ties of Ontario are famous. More than a third of the 
apples sent to Great Britain come from these fine orchards. 
Ontario also raises many other choice fruits, including 
grapes for wine and table use. 

Animal industries. — The farmers of Ontario and Quebec 
give great attention to grazing and dairy products. They 
ship many thousands of live cattle and sheep to the meat 
markets of England, besides a great deal of fresh and canned 
meats and poultry. As Canada raises little maize, many 
of her hogs are fattened on peas, the exports of bacon being 
far larger than all the other meat exports together. Half 
the milch cows in the country are in Ontario ; eastern Canada 
exporting from its hundreds of factories far more cheese 
than any other country in the world, sells nearly all of it 
to Great Britain. Prime butter is also a large export, as 
cold storage has rendered these shipments possible. Butter 
is kept in cold storage from the creamery in Canada to the 
consumer in England. The annual export of domestic ani- 
mals and their products has often been worth three times as 
much as the exports of grain. 

The fisheries. — Nearly 90,000 men are now engaged in 
the Canadian fisheries, and the number is increasing almost 
every year. The most valuable fisheries are in the shallow 



CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 



159 



waters of the coasts and the cold and foggy banks of the 
Atlantic shores, where cod, halibut, herring, and many other 
kinds of sea food abound (Fig. 94). The lobster fisheries 
are the most productive in the Avorld (Fig. 95). Xew 
Brunswick sends millions of herring to our Maine factories 
to be canned as sardines. The Pacific coast contributes 
salmon caught in many rivers, and canned most exten- 
sively on the Fraser River. The whitefish, trout, and stur- 




FiG fl4.— Net-fishins off the coast. 



geon of the Great Lakes are also important. Salmon, cod, 

lobsters, and herring form about one-half of the value 

of the fisheries, which are worth over $25,000,000 a year. 

Half of the catch is exported, the larger part of it to Great 

Britain and the United States. Large quantities of cured 

cod go to Eoman Catholic countries, most of all to the 

West Indies. 

Furs. — Canada, mainly north of the settled regions, is 

one of the largest sources of furs and skins. The Hudson 

Bay Company sends its hunters and trappers through the 

forests and waste lands, who return with otter, beaver, bear, 
11 



160 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



fox, and many other kinds of furs and skins, most of which 
are sent to England and the United States. 





Fm. 95.— A liOBSTEK TRAP 

Lobsters are canp:ht in traps made of lath with fnniiel-shaped openings at the ends. 
The traps are baited with refuse fish. As many as 500,000 traps have been used 
along the Atlantic coast in a single year. 

Forest industries. — Canada has a larger extent of forests 
than any other lumber-making country. Pines, hardwoods, 
and spruce make Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick the 
largest sources of lumber and wood-pulp. Hundreds of 
sawmills near Ottawa, Deseronto on Lake Ontario, and 
Quebec, make these cities the greatest centers of the lum- 
ber trade. Hemlock forests and many cattle in the south- 
east have made leather tanning a great industry at Quebec 
and Frederickton, N. B. The forests of British Columbia 
also supply much lumber and timber — mostly the tough, 
strong Douglas fir, well suited for masts and buildings. 
More northern forests are still untouched, the spruces in 
particular being of vast extent and one of the future sources 
of pulp-wood for paper-making. Lumber, timber, and pulp- 
wood are among the large exports ; the United States and 
Great Britain take nearly all of them. 



CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 161 

Mineral industries.— The yield of gold (luadrupled after 
the discovery of the Yukon field in 1897, but declined later. 
There are many other gold-mining regions in British Co- 
lumbia, western Ontario, and Nova Scotia. About half the 
world's supply of nickel comes from the Sudbury district, 
Ontario, the United States usually buying all of it. Silver, 
copper, and other metals abound, but after gold, coal is the 
largest mineral product. Most of it comes from Nova Scotia, 
Alberta, Cape Breton Island, and the mountains of the 
Pacific slope. Excellent steaming coal for ships is mined on 
both coasts. The Government pays a bounty of 13 a ton on 
all pig iron made at home from Canadian ore, and this is 
stimulating both iron-mining and iron and steel manufac- 
tures on the Atlantic coast. About half of all we buy from 
Canada is metals and coal, our country taking nearly all 
that Canada has to sell. 

Manufactures. — Manufactures have made much progress, 
though the population is too small as yet for the highest 
industrial development. Only the coarser kinds of cotton 
and woolen textiles are made ; clothing, furniture, agricul- 
tural implements, lumber, leather, and wood-pulp are lead- 
ing products ; all but the first are also important exports. 
England takes nearly all the leather, and we share largely 
in the wood-pulp. 

Communications. — The lakes, 73 miles of canals, and the 
St. Lawrence Eiver make a continuous inland waterway 
from Lake Superior to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Consid- 
erable of our own merchandise, including maize (16,000,000 
bushels in 1899), wheat, flour, and manufactures take this 
route to Europe. Many railroads connect Canada with the 
United States. The Canadian Pacific Eailroad, across the 
continent, is the most direct route, among American trans- 
continental lines, for the trade of Europe with the Orient. 

Seaports. — Montreal, the largest seaport and center of 
commerce, is connected by regular steamship-lines with 
England, Scotland, and Ireland. All the Gulf of St. Law- 



162 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

rence ports being closed by ice in winter, Montreal's winter 
trade is done through Halifax, 'N. S., and Portland, Me. 
The ports of Yancouver and Victoria are outlets for the 
Pacific trade. 

Toronto, Kingston, and Hamilton are among the ini- 
j)ortant lake ports and manufacturing centers. 

Commerce. — The trade with other countries, advancing 
by millions of dollars a year in the recent period of pros- 
perity, reached, in 1915, the sum of $409,000,000 exports 
and $415,000,000 imports. Great Britain and the United 
States buy three-fourths of all Canada has to sell. Great 
Britain buying a far larger amount than we do, because she 
needs the foodstuffs that Canada produces, while we do 
not. Great Britain buys most of the products of the farms 
and grass lands, besides a great deal of the products of the 
fisheries. Our purchases are mainly metals, lumber, wood- 
pulp, fish, and live animals. 

AVe sell to Canada three-fifths of everything she buys. 
The reason is that, being poor in manufactures, Canada 
must buy them from other lands, and as our manufactures 
are good and cheap, she buys more from us than from Great 
Britain, though British goods pay a far lower tariff than 
our articles. Canada is a high-tariff country, but since 
July, 1900, the tariff on goods coming from most of the 
British Empire has been one-third lower than on articles 
from other countries. France, Germany, and the "West 
Indies are also prominent in Canada's trade. 

Newfoundland. — This large island is a British colony 
distinct from Canada. Its main support is catching and 
curing fish and killing the oil-seal for its oil and skin. 
Dried cod, sent mostly to the West Indies and the southern 
countries of America and Europe, is half the exports. Food 
and clothing, the main imports, come from the L^nited 
States, Great Britain, and Canada. St. John's, the capital, 
is wholly given to the fishing trade. The annual exports 
are over $10,000,000 : imports about the same. 



CHAPTER XVI 

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 

Situation and climate. — The United Kingdom (Great 
Britain and Ireland) is situated near the center of the 
northern or land hemisphere, close to the densely peopled 
countries of continental Europe, which are the largest 
markets for its manufactures, and within easy reach of the 
United States and Canada, which are the largest sources of 
its food supplies. The position of the kingdom is there- 
fore extremely favorable for commerce. Though it lies far 
north, the persistent westerly winds blowing over a warm 
sea (Fig. 7) give it a temperate climate with abundant rain. 
The kingdom has only about 44,000,000 inhabitants, but,, 
being the largest colonial power in the world, nearly one- 
fourth of the earth's inhabitants live under the British 
flag ; this fact has helped to make the kingdom the leading 
commercial nation (page 36). 

Ports. — The deep bays and wide estuaries of the rivers 
are advantageous for commerce. England alone has about 
100 ports, including those on the rivers. No manufactur- 
ing center is more than 50 miles from a seaport (Fig. 
96). The east-coast harbors of Great Britain (England 
and Scotland) are most favorably situated for trade with 
the neighboring continent, those of the west coast for 
trade with America and the other continents. 

London, with 6,000,000 inhabitants (Greater London),, 
is the leading port of the world and the center of enormous 
business interests extending to every part of the globe. 
Fig. 97 is an example of its great docks, where more ship- 

163 



164: 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



RAILROADS AND PORTS 

OF THE 

BRITISH ISLES 

^ SCALE OF MILES 

^^^— 6 ^ — 




• Coal ports '^■,\ 

* Fishing ports 
® General navigation Penzinc 



G Longitude 4 West from 



Fig. 96. — The railroad system radiates from London in all directions to other ports 
or industrial centers ; these in turn are centers of smaller systems of radiating 
lines ; so that the country is covered with a network of railroads, all large towns 
being connected with all the others by one or more lines. 



ping is always moored than at any other port of the world. 
The Thanios is navigable at high tide for the largest ves- 
sels to London. The price of tea and hides throughout 
the world is fixed by the London markets. Liverpool, 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



165 



on the estuary of the Mersey, with miles of docks and 
great coal and manufacturing districts at its door, is the sec- 
ond largest port of the kingdom, and fixes the world's price 
for export cotton and cereals. About three-fifths of the total 
exports and imports pass through these two cities. As the 
new ship-canal at Manchester has made it a seaport, it now 
shares the cotton trade with Liverpool. Glasgow, Hull, 
Plymouth, and Southampton are also important in inter- 
national trade. Cardiff and Newcastle are 
il- shipping ports, Cardiff shipping 
more coal than any other port in 
the world. Observe in Fig. 96 
3 position of ports that are 
devoted to general trade, 
coal, or the fisheries, 
the railroads, and 
the distance by sea 
to neighboring for- 
eign ports. 

Distribution of 
industries. — The 
rough, hilly re- 
gions of the west 
of England and 
the southwest of 
Scotland, near the 
sea, produce most 
of the manufac- 
tures except those 
that are made in 
the great woolen 
manufacturing dis- 
trict of Leeds, and 
the iron and steel 
manutacturing centers around Birmingham and Sheffield. 
The more level lands of the east and south of England, 




■Fig. 97.— Most of the London docks surround water 
basins connected by channels with the Thames. In- 
coming vessels are moored at the import docks on 
which their cargoes are unloaded ; they then receive 
cargoes from the export docks on the other side of 
them. Trains and trucks move down the middle of 
the docks, unloading export freight on one side of 
the tracks and loading with imports on the other. 



166 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

and the rich lowlands of south Scotland, are covered with 
pastures and fields of wheat, barley, oats, and root crops. 
Many industries around the coasts pertain to the shipping 
trade, such as rope- and sail-making. The sterile Scottish 
Highlands are least productive, though many sheep graze 
in the valleys. Within the highlands along the coasts of 
Ireland is a rich central plain devoted to agriculture and 
grazing. Ireland's manufactures and ports are mainly on 
the east coast, where supplies of coal may easily be obtained 
from England. 

Agriculture. — The farms are kept in the highest state 
of productiveness by drainage, fertilizers, and machinery ; 
but though more is raised to the acre in England than in 
any other country, agriculture is of subordinate importance 
(Fig. 98). Two-thirds of the people live in towns ; there 
are more merchants than farmers ; there are five times as 
many workers in mines, factories, and shops, as tillers of 
the soil ; thus the kingdom is far greater in manufactures 
and commerce than in agriculture. Though very large 
crops of wheat, oats, barley, and potatoes are raised, and 
rain and soil combine to make the most luxuriant of pas- 
ture lands, the farms and live stock do not begin to supply 
sufficient food for the people. The insufficiency of the 
home supplies is intensified by the fact that many thou- 
sands of ships as well as millions of dwellers in the cities 
and towns must be provisioned. 

The result is that the kingdom is the greatest buyer of 
foreign food supplies. Wheat and flour are by far the 
largest of all the imports, most of these supplies com- 
ing from the United States, Eussia, India, and Canada; 
Argentina and Australia are also large shippers of wheat. 
The entire supply of maize for animal fattening is im- 
ported from our corn belt. Even vegetables are brought 
from Belgium, France, and the far-away Canary Islands. 

As there is almost no timber for lumber, the imports 
come next to food, cotton, and wool in value. Lumber 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



167 



comes mainly from Scandinavia, Kussia, Canada, and the 
United States. 



4 ki^r Orkney 




Fig. 98.— The drier and lower lands of the east and southeast of England are the 
chief wheat-growing area. Most of the barley is grown in this wheat region. 
Oats flourish better in the cool, moist regions of the west and north. Pastures 
and root crops for stock-raising cover large areas. Hops for beer-making are 
grovra mainly in the south of England. Compare Fig. 98 with Fig. 99 to trace 
tie relations between the distribution of the manufacturing industries and of the 
^oal-fields. 



168 ELEMENTAEY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Domestic animals. — British horses, cattle, swine, and 
sheep are unsurpassed in quality. The stall-fed cattle 
make prime beef, the butter and cheese are of great excel- 
lence, and English mutton is famous, but the supply fills 
only a part of the demand. All parts of the world are 
under contribution for meat, including poultry and dairy 
products, for which about $200,000,000 a year is expended. 
Many millions of dollars' worth of frozen beef and mutton 
are brought across the tropics from Australia, 'New Zea- 
land, Argentina, and Uruguay. Millions of frozen rabbits 
come from Australia and New Zealand, and immense quan- 
tities of poultry from France, Belgium, Russia, and other 
countries. Bacon, the largest item, is one-fourth of the 
meat imports. Our country has far the largest share in 
the meat supplies. The kingdom buys nearly 2,000,000,000 
eggs a year, most of them coming from Russia. One of 
the most profitable industries of Denmark is making butter 
for Great Britain, which buys from that little country far 
more than half of its immense foreign supplies. 

British wool is famous for quality and the variety of 
fabrics for which it is adapted. The home supplies are 
augmented by enormous imports, not only from Austra- 
lasia — its chief source of foreign wool — but also from 
nearly every wool-growing land in the world. Flax and 
wool are the only fibers produced in the country. All 
others are imported, including about two -fifths of the 
world's supply of raw cotton, most of which comes from 
our country. 

The fisheries. — Fish is the only food product yielded by 
the country in adequate supply. More than 107,000 men 
are engaged in the industry all around the coasts. Cod 
are caught on the Dogger Banks (Fig. 98) ; the map shows 
the distribution of fishing and the fish that are most im- 
portant. Many of the fishing craft have tanks, in which 
the fish are kept alive till they are transferred at the ports 
to the trains that carry them to the cities. Herring is the 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



169 



great fish of export, being pickled and sent in large quan- 
tities to the Greek and Roman Catholic countries. 

Mineral products. — The kingdom is richer in mineral 
development than any other land in the world except the 
United States. These 
products, mainly coal 



Fig. 99.— The Clyde coal-field 
(1) is the center of the largest 
ship-building in the world, of 
locomotives, machinery, and 
ill kinds of iron-work, and of 
textile manufactures. Coal is 
exported to St. Petersburg, the 
Mediterranean, and the facto- 
ries of Belfast and north Ire- 
land ; (2) much of the coal is 
used to smelt iron ore in Fur- 
ness and to supply north Ire- 
land : (3) large quantities are 
shipped to London and to 
many parts of the world, and 
also used in the great iron in- 
dustries of Newcastle, Sunder- 
land, and other cities ; (4) very 
little exported, as nearly all is 
consumed in the textile, ma- 
chinery, and chemical works 
of south Lancashire, or sold 
to steamers sailing from Liver- 
pool and Manchester ; (5) sup- 
plies the woolen district of 
Leeds and Bradford, the iron- 
works of Sheffield, the lace, 
underwear, and hosiery facto- 
ries of Nottingham, and the 
surplus is sent to London ; (6) 
supplies fuel for the great cen- 
ter of iron manufactures in 
the Birmingham region, steam- 
power for the pottery district, 

and sends much coal to London ; (7) smelts many ores, including some that are 
imported, as copper from Chile, and red hematite (steel-making ore) from Spain ; 
also exports coal through Cardiff to all parts of the world ; (8) supplies the west 
of England woolen-manufacturing centers. 




and iron, make up for its deficiencies in agriculture and 
animal raising. 



lYO ' ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Coal. — Coal is the basis of the vast manufactures and 
commerce of the country, which produces far more coal 
than any other land except the United States. As its 
mines are near the sea it can export more easily than most 
other lands, and it supplies nearly all of the coal-buying 
countries. Each coal-field has special lines of manufac- 
tures closely associated with it (Fig. 99). 

Iron. — Iron ore production has fallen off till the king- 
dom is surpassed by Germany and is third on the list (Fig. 
67). Observe that many of the iron-mines (Fig. 98) are 
near or in the midst of coal-fields, with limestone also close 
at hand, so that iron and steel are cheaply produced. Large 
quantities of ore from Spain and smaller supplies from 
Sweden and Algeria are imported, both because the home 
supplies are diminishing and also because the foreign ores 
are better adapted for some qualities of steel. 

Though the tin-mines of Cornwall and Devon (Fig. 98) 
are the largest European sources of this metal, England 
imports more from the Malay peninsula than she produces. 
Large quantities of all the other metals are imported. The 
country produces more salt than any other except the 
United States. 

Manufactures. — As factories depend largely upon coal, 
we see the manufacturing industries of the kingdom chiefly 
grouped near or on the coal-fields of central and north 
England and in the Clyde region of Scotland ; there is 
little activity in Ireland, which must import coal, except 
at Belfast and a few other places on the east coast. 

Textiles. — Cotton-spinning and weaving are the largest 
industries, about 5,000,000 persons depending upon them 
for a living. Textile fabrics are more than one-half the 
total exports. The most important centers of the cotton 
industries are in Lancashire, England (Fig. 100), and Glas- 
gow and Paisley, Scotland. The moist climate of the 
country being most favorable for cotton-spinning, England 
still leads the world in the quality of her best yarns and 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 



m 



finest fabrics ; the United States and Germany, however, 
now compete with her on even terms in many cotton cloth 
markets. British cotton cloth and yarn are sent to all 




Fig. 100.— Cotton and woolen districts. 
Manchester is the great cotton market and distributing center, but manufactures very 
little. Spinning cotton yarn engages many thousands of operatives in Oldham, 
Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Burnley, Rochdale, and Stockport. The largest 
weaving centers are Preston and Burnley. Leeds and Bradford are the main 
centers of the woolen trade, and with the large towns near them make most of 
the woolen fabrics. Leeds and Huddersfield produce broadcloth ; Halifax, 
flannel, rugs, and carpets ; Bradford, alpaca, mohair, and woolen damasks. 
Leeds and Barnsley are large producers of linen, drawing their fiber from the flax- 
fields of Yorkshire and Russia. Coventry, Macclesfield, and other towns south 
of the cotton and woolen districts are the most important centers of silk-weaving. 
Liverpool and Manchester, with its ship canal, are the ports of the cotton and 
woolen districts. 



parts of the world, chiefly the warmer countries, the ex- 
ports being larger than the entire woolen, iron, and steel 
exports. 

England probably stands at the head of the woolen 
manufacturing countries. Two-thirds of the product is 
consumed at home, but large quantities of fine English 
woolen and worsted goods, flannels, and blankets are sent 
to all the cooler countries. The linen, jute, and silk in- 
dustries also are important. 

Metal Industries. — Metal-working, after textiles, is the 
most important class of industries. There are iron and 
steel industries in most parts of the country, but the great 
center of all the working in metals for centuries past 
has been the midlands at Birmingham and far around it, 



172 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

where everything is made^ from steel rails to a jack-knife. 
Machinery is made in more than 2,000 shops. Sheffield is 
famous for its cutlery; the kingdom, in fact, is conspicu- 
ous for the quality, excellence, and cheapness of its metal 
manufactures, which include everything, from needles and 
knives to the mightiest steam-engines and anchors that 
weigh tons; but for some years the kingdom has suffered 
from American and German competition, not a few of our 
iron and steel products even selling in Birmingham, Shef- 
field, and other famous centers of such wares. 

In proportion to the iron produced or imported by Great 
Britain and Germany, the former uses more iron and the 
latter more steel. In our country more steel is used for the 
frames of buildings, bridges, freight cars, and some other 
l^urposes than in Europe; the result is that our production 
of steel is enormously larger than that of Germany and Eng- 
land together. But no other country builds so many steel 
ships, or any other kind, as are turned out at the great yards 
of Belfast, the Clyde and other rivers, many of them built 
for foreign countries. 

The chemical industries produce enormous quantities of 
aniline dyes, sulphuric acid, glass, soap, and other articles. 
About 500,000 people are employed in making leather and 
its products. Nearly every industrial art is largely repre- 
sented in Great Britain, which, until within the past few 
years, was the mightiest of workshops, unrivaled in the 
quantity and quality of its products. To-day it is meeting 
competition. 

Commerce. — Great Britain, giving most attention to 
making things for the world to use, still sells more goods 
to other lands than any other nation, though it is now 
closely pressed by the United States. Having far more* 
ships than any other nation, it carries its own commodities^ 
and also a great deal of freight for other countries. About 
one-fourth of all it sells comes to the United States, one- 
fourth goes to the European continent, one-fourth to its 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 173 

colonies, and one-fourth to the rest of the world. Because 
most of the things it buys are the necessities of life (food) 
or the necessities of industries (raw materials), it is a free- 
trade country, collecting duties on only a few products. The 
trading relations between Great Britain and the United 
States, both buying and selling, are much larger than their 
dealings with any other countries. The kingdom thus con- 
tributes far more to our prosperity than any other nation. 

The business interests of the kingdom may be summed 
up in the statement that Great Britain draws very largely 
upon the food products and raw materials of the whole 
world, and pays for them with her manufactures. The 
great value of her industries in the home markets, and the 
vast profits of her thousands of ships that carry freight 
for other nations, make up for the excess of imports over 
exports. 



CHAPTEE XVII 

GERMANY * 

Position. — Germany is the most central country of Eu« 
rope. On the east and southeast are Eussia and Austria- 
Hungary, great producers of grain, flax, hemp, and timber, 
which Germany needs. These countries in turn need Ger- 
many's manufactures. On the west and southwest are Bel- 
gium, France, and Switzerland, famous for their highly 
developed manufactures. Both France and Switzerland 
need coal, coke, iron, and machinery, which Germany long 
sold to them in great supply. The empire was thus sur- 
rounded by good markets. On the north is the Baltic sea, 
giving Germany access by water to ports of Russia and 
Scandinavia, with which countries it had a large trade; on 
the northwest is the North Sea, through which German 
steamers passed on their way to all parts of the world. Ger- 
many was most favorably situated both for Continental and 
international trade (Fig. 101). 

Physical features. — The empire slopes to the north. 
Most of the southern half is hilly and even mountainous. 
Here the soil is fertile, raising large crops, particularly in 
the valleys. Many mountains are clothed with forests, 
which make the center and southwest of the country the 
chief seat of the lumber industry ; here, too, are made the 
wooden toys, of which we all know. In this region, also, 
are some of the large coal-fields, which have developed 
manufactures in parts of south Germany. 

Most of the northern half is a plain, which is not natu- 
rally fertile. Prussia has been made highly productive 

* Maps of regions whose boundaries are changed by the Peace Con- 
ference will be revised when exact data are supplied. 
174 



GERMANY 



175 



only by the most careful and scientific agriculture. From 
the mountains of the south a number of very important 




Fig. 101.— The Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula (Weichsel), all with large sea- 
ports at or near their mouths, carry on steamboats an enormous amount of com- 
merce derived not only from their valleys, but also from many canalized tributa- 
ries and canals. The most western and the largest commerce-carrier is the Rhine, 
which neither begins nor ends in Germany. Observe that the parts of these rivers 
navigable for large boats extend entirely across the empire or far into it. The 
North Sea ports are open all the year round, but the Baltic ports are frozen over 
in winter ; Liibeck and Stettin, however, are kept open by ice-breakers. Cux- 
haven is the outport of Hamburg and Bremerhaven of Bremen. Kiel and Wil- 
helmshaven are naval ports. The population is most dense on the coal and iron 
fields, where industries are most active, and in the fertile Rhine valley, which is- 
crowded with manufacturing towns. It is least dense in the low-lying agricul- 
tural and stock-raising regions of Prussia and in some of the mountain districts. 

rivers cross Germany to the sea ; of these, the Ehine and the 
Elbe are the greatest commerce carriers among the rivers 
of Europe (Fig. 101). All these rivers, with the canals 
that connect them, give wonderful facilities for cheap 
transportation (page 28). 

Seaports. — Fig. 101 shows the ports that are scattered 
along the 1,200 miles of coasts. The great city of Ham- 
burg, which handled nearly one-half of the foreign com- 
12 



176 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

merce of Germany, was surpassed only by London and New 
York in the magnitude of its sea trade. At high tide the 
largest vessels ascend the Elbe, 60 miles, to the Hamburg 




Fig. 102. — The tree port of Hambtjrg. 
Two thousand five hundred acres of land and water in the harbor form the free port. 
Free ports serve in part the same purpose that our bonded warehouses do. Goods 
may be sent to bonded warehouses and forwarded later in bond to their destina- 
tion in a foreign country without paying duties. In the same way goods sent to 
the free ports of Germany and Denmark do not come under the supervision of the 
customs laws. But if they are taken from the free port for consumption in the 
country to which the free port belongs, they must pay duties. The free ports are 
Hamburg, Bremen, Cuxhaven, and Danzig in Germany, and Copenhagen in 
Denmark. 

docks, and transfer freight to boats that may carry it 
nearly to Prague in Austria. Bremen is the second largest 
port, but the shallow Weser permits only small vessels to 
reach the city, so that Bremen does most of its shipping 
trade through Bremerhaven. Hamburg and Bremen are 
Germany's two great world ports. The trade of all the 
others is mainly with neighboring parts of the Continent. 
All the larger ports of Germany are known as free ports 
(Fig. 102). Though Germany has a very large merchant 
marine, a great deal of her commerce is carried under for- 
eign flags. 



GERMANY 177 

Vegetable products. — Germany has become a manufac- 
turing rather than an agricultural nation, so that to-day 
less than half the people live on the farms. The plowed- 
and grass-lands, though very carefully utilized, do not raise 
all the breadstuffs and meat the people require. Eye- 
fields, scattered all over the sandy plain of Prussia, pro- 
duce twice as much of that cereal as all the wheat that is 
grown ; rye is needed in great quantities to make the rye 
bread, which is eaten by the peasantry. Both rye and 
wheat are imported in enormous quantities, Eussia supply- 
ing the rye and sharing the wheat imports with the United 
States and other countries. A large amount of our maize 
is also imported. The potato is a great food resource, 
and is used besides in the manufacture of a large amount 
of alcohol, which the Germans now use for illumination, 
heating, and steam fuel. 

Much more grain and meat might be produced if 
so much attention were not given to the sugar-beet 
(Fig. 103). 'No other farm product supplies so much 
material for manufacture as beet-root. More than one- 
half of the sugar extracted from this root is exported, 
for the Germans are small consumers, using only one- 
third as much sugar per capita as our people eat. Their 
sugar exports nearly pay for all the wheat and rye they 
import, and beet-growing, long encouraged by a govern- 
ment bounty, has been more profitable than most farm 
crops. 

Much lumber has been imported from Scandinavia and 
the United States, though the resources of the southern 
forests are large. Xo one is allowed to destroy a tree with- 
out planting another ; thus the wood-cutters prepare for 
another crop of timber as they clear away the present 
forests. 

Beverages. — Xo other country brews so much beer as 
Germany, where the consumption is enormous, amounting, 
in 1901, to 131 quarts a year for every inhabitant. Bavaria, 



178 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



whose warm, sunny climate produces the best hops, makes 
about one-third of all the beer. The light wines of the 
Ehine and its tributary, the Moselle, are celebrated, but 
exports are small compared with the imports of French 



wmes. 




50 100 150 

Sugar Beet Culture. 
Chief Centres of Textile Industries. 
Chief Centres of Metallu^gic and 
Mechanical Industries. 



Fig. 103.— The larger part of the beet crop is grown on the plains of Prussia and in 
the basin of the Rhine. As most sugar is made where most beets are grown, the 
largest centers of the industry are in the lowlands around the Harz Mountains 
and in southeast Prussia (Silesia). 

The coal-fields are near large navigable rivers, and their product thus has the 
advantage of cheap water transportation. The coal of the Rhine lies in the val- 
leys of its tributaries, the Ruhr and the Saar. The coal of the Elbe is mined both 
in the kingdom and the Prussian province of Saxony. The coal of the Oder is 
found in Silesia. Great quantities of lignite (intermediate between peat and coal) 
are also mined for use mainly in sugar refineries and distilleries. 

Animal industries. — The moist climate and wet soil of 
the northwest, near the sea, are so favorable for the growth 
of fine grasses that cattle- and horse-raising is the leading 
industry in that region. Germany has more cattle than 



GERMANY 17^ 

any other European country except Russia, and is thus 
able to send a good deal of butter to England. Westphalia 
hams from grain-fattened hogs, bred so as to make the 
meat tender and least fat, are famous the world over ; many 
hogs are fattened on acorns and beechnuts ; though Ger- 
many needs to import a very large amount of hog products, 
she sells her own bacon and hams in a number of countries. 
The sheep hav-e decreased by millions, because the decline 
in the price of wool (page 87) made them less profitable, 
and their pastures were also needed to raise more food for 
the growing factory towns ; so wool from Argentina, Aus- 
tralasia, and Cape Colony are among the largest imports ; 
the finest wool is grown in the southeast, where the big 
mills at Chemnitz, Breslau, and other places turn it into 
excellent fabrics. The great imports of horses, SAvine, 
meat, and wool show that the animal industries are far 
from meeting the needs of the people. 

Mineral resources. — Germany's riches in coal and iron 
have made her the third largest manufacturing country. 
They are found close together ; no other country of Eu- 
rope, except England, mines so much of either mineral. 
The richest coal-fields are along the Euhr Eiver in Prussia, 
near the Rhine, with extensive iron-ore resources close at 
hand. Kearly two-thirds of the iron comes from the west, 
where it is closely associated with the coal-fields of the Saar. 
The greatest textile and iron industries of the south are 
situated on the coal-fields of Saxony. The rivers and 
canals are of the greatest importance in carrying coal and 
iron far and wide to factory towns scattered through the 
country ; thus the coal, pig iron, and steel of upper Silesia 
are floated down the Oder to Berlin and many other indus- 
trial cities. Steel from the Ruhr coal-fields is landed on 
the docks at Antwerp at a cost for haulage of 82 cents a 
ton. Cheap transportation has helped Germany to compete 
with England in the metal trade, and also to bring in the 
superior steel-making ores of Spain and Sweden. 



180 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Upper Silesia being the world's largest source of zinc, 
Germany is able to export this metal. Salt is the only 
other mineral produced in sufficient quantities. 

Manufactures. — Factories, dotted all over the country, 
give Germany her proud position among industrial nations. 
The home workers are protected by high duties on foreign 
products ; labor is highly skilled, as the workmen are care- 
fully trained. The Germans excel in the chemical researches 
that are so important in cheapening and improving the 
processes of manufacture (page 23) ; they send agents to 
all parts of the world to find markets for their goods ; they 
have cheap transportation. All these advantages have 
given them a large share of the world's trade in factory 
products. 

Iron and steel products. — Every variety of iron and steel 
goods is made, from a nail to the largest steam-engine. 
The metal industries employ more men and turn out a 
larger value of product than any other. The greatest iron 
and steel works are at Essen (Fig. 103), where the Krupp 
works employ over 40,000 men, and produce cast-steel, 
•steel rails, cannon, and many other articles. The making 
of cutlery, machinery, and other products has been highly 
perfected and is carried on everywhere, particularly in 
Prussia, wherever coal and metal may be cheaply trans- 
ported ; thus Berlin is very important as a manufacturing 
center, besides being the political and commercial capital 
of Germany and one of the great money markets of the 
world. Germany buys no metal goods or machinery from 
foreign lands unless they are cheaper in price and better 
in quality than can be produced at home, so the imports of 
these articles are very much smaller than the exports. 

Germany has ranked next to Great Britain in ship- 
building. Its ocean vessels, some of them among the largest 
and swiftest afloat, visit all parts of the world. 

Textile products. — The textile industries are next in im- 
portance, with cotton goods as the leading feature. Germany 



GERMANY 



181 



was our second best customer for raw cotton. Observe 
in Fig. 103 the location of the greatest textile centers. 
Elberf eld, with the neighboring city of Barmen, is kno^v^n as 
" the German Manchester," find is one of the greatest cot- 
ton centers of Europe. Krefeld is famous for its silks. 





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Fig. 104.— Berlin is tlie center of the fine railroad system, which extends to the most 
remote parts of the empire. Freight is carried at cheap rates, and thus the rail- 
roads have had a large part in industrial development. The three classes of rail- 
roads are (1) the imperial railroads, such as those of Alsace-Lorraine, owned and 
managed by the imperial government ; (2) the state railroads, controlled by Prus- 
sia, Saxony, Bavaria, and other states ; and (3) private railroads, owned by incor- 
porated companies like those of the United States and Great Britain. The state 
roads are most important, and those of Prussia include about one-half of the 
mileage of the empire. 



Chemnitz is both a Manchester and a Birmingham, being 
known throughout the world both for its metal and its 
textile (hosiery, underwear, and shawls) industries. Ger- 
man cottons have been exported over the world, with Central 
and South America as the largest purchasers — the Germans, 



182 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

with great energy, having sought trade there. The out- 
put of the woolcu-mills is not so large as that of the cotton 
factories, but the foreign sales to all the leading nations, as 
well as the smaller buyers, are much greater. Flax from 
Eussia supplements the home supply for the making of 
linens, and jute is brought from India for the jute manu- 
factures. 

About 600,000 persons are employed in the making of 
leather and leather goods. No other nation is so advanced 
as Germany in the chemical industries ; the United States is 
her largest customer for aniline dyes and many other chem- 
ical preparations. A list of all the German manufacturing 
industries would nearly cover the field of human industrial 
enterprise. Many of the towns that are of largest indus- 
trial importance are shown on the railroad map (Fig. 104). 

Commerce. — Germany has bought $40,000,000 worth of 
raw cotton a year from our Southern States. Having no 
petroleum-fields, it was one of the large customers for our 
kerosene. It brought great quantities of our maize, wheat, 
oats, meats, copper, lumber, and oil-cake. In fact, the em- 
pire purchased from our country twice the value of the goods 
it sold to us. The business relations between the two nations 
were very profitable to both of them. 

The high protective tariff covers the whole empire ex- 
cept the free ports, and is also extended by treaty over the 
independent principality of Luxemburg. 

Germany is like England in that its imports are mostly 
food and raw material and its exports mostly manufactured 
goods. The value of its total foreign trade is about the 
same as that of the United States, amounting in 1910 to 
$2,055,000,000 imports and $1,665,000,000 exports. What 
an immense" amount of labor was expended upon the raw 
materials to produce so grand a total of manufactured 
goods to sell to foreign customers ! These export figures 
illustrate how millions of men work all the while for mil- 
lions of others in every part of the world. 



CHAPTEE XVIII 

FRANCE 

Position, physical features, and climate. — France has the 
commercial advantage of fronting both on the Atlantic 
and the Mediterranean, giving it easy access by water both 
to north and south European countries, and facilitating 
trade with America and the Orient. If you should draw 
a line on Fig. 105 from Bayonne, near Spain, to the Iron 
Works of Ardennes in the northeast, it would show, fairly 
well, the division between the low rolling plains north of 
the line and the higher lands and mountainous regions 
south of it. Most of the general manufactures are on the 
plain ; most of the metal-working is south of the imaginary 
line, but it includes the iron center around Lille. Over 150 
navigable streams, the Seine being most important, with a 
network of canals, carry an immense amount of heavy 
freight, mostly in small boats. ^N'avigation is difficult in 
the Loiie and Gironde at low water, and on the Ehone, the 
deepest river, owing to the too rapid current. The climate 
is temperate with abundant rain. The people are far more 
evenly distributed over the country than in Great Britain 
and Germany ; the densest population, outside the Paris and 
Lyons districts, being in Normandy, on the English Channel. 

Seaports. — France is poor in natural harbors. Most of 
the havens are artificial or river ports. Observe their posi- 
tion in Fig. 105, which also shows the kind of commodities 
tributary to them. Marseilles is the leading port, and Havre 
is second in importance. They illustrate the difference be- 
tween manufacturing and forwarding ports. Many of the 

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FRANCE 



185 



things brought to Marseilles remain there till they are turned 
into flour, oil, soap, and other products ; but nearly every- 
thing that goes to Havre is sent inland or to sea — in other 




Fig. 106.— a bit of Marseilles harbor. 

Covered wharves are not as common in Europe as in our leading ports, but freight is 

quickly removed from the open wharves. 

words, Havre does not combine manufacturing with the for- 
warding business. As Marseilles gives work to a large indus- 
trial population, it is about four times as large as Havre 
(Figs. 106 and 107). 

Vegetable products. — The right to buy land was a blessing 
the French Eevolution gave to the common people. The vast 
landed estates of the feudal nobles are now mostly cut up 
into small farms, owned by the men who work them. France, 



186 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



though smaller than Texas, has as many, farms as the United 
States, but they average only about 15 acres in a holding. 
How different this is from the conditions in Great Britain, 
Spain, Italy, and Eussia, where large estates predominate ! 
Half of the 39,000,000 inhabitants earn their living by agri- 
culture, the leading industry. 

In the past half century the peasantry have become 
wheat instead of rye eaters, with the result that France is 
now one of the largest wheat-growing countries, the wheat 
crop being worth more than all the other cereals together ; 
still the crop is not large enough for the home need, and 
millions of bushels are sent from our country and Argen- 
tina. As the French prefer to grind their own flour, our 
millers find little trade there. The other cereals, particu- 




FiG. 107.— The port of Havre. 



larly oats, are large crops, but additional supplies must be 
imported. Observe the distribution of farm crops and ani- 
mals in Fig. 108. Very few breadstuffs are exported ex- 
cept wheat, flour, and alimentary pastes, such as macaroni 



FRANCE 



187 



and others whose manufacture, originating in Italy, has 
spread to other countries. 

The post-office is the only branch of business which our 
Government reserves for itself ; but in many other lands the 




Sit,SarUy,£uciv>he. 
Large Catttt.Baiiitif 



I MILES 

n,at. Industrial planla,(Flax. ffbpj, 
!u}ar hut etc) Small Callle Raising 



Fig. 108.— Agriculture and animal-raising. 

Government monopolizes one or another industry or trade 
for the revenue they may yield. In Prance, tobacco and 
matches are monopolies from which the Government 
profits ; it does not permit tobacco to be raised except in 
those regions which grow the best quality and the largest 
quantity, so the imports of raw leaf from our country, 
Turkey, Algeria, and elsewhere are very large. The manu- 
facture is confined to 20 large factories, which produce 
about 170,000,000 worth of products a year. 

Large crops of sugar-beet are grown in the extreme 
north, the farmers sending their raw sugar to refineries at 



188 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Paris and other cities. England buys most of the crop 
which is sold out of the country. Apples, pears, and 
southern fruits, including the olive, are raised in such 
large quantities that many are exported. The fruits of 
France are among the choicest in the world. 

Wine. — Cider and beer are made and consumed in enor- 
mous quantities in the north, but wine is the national bev- 
erage (page 62). France leads the world in the quantity 
and quality of her wines (Fig. 109), her supremacy being 

due not only to favorable 

soil and climate, but also 
to painstaking and intelli- 
gent treatment of the manu- 
factured product. Three- 
fourths of the wines are 
red ; the costliest and most 
prized is champagne. About 
a third of all the wine pro- 
duced is exported. Observe 
the northern limit of vine 
culture in Fig. 110. 

France is poor in tim- 
ber, and much lumber is 
brouglit from Scandina- 
via, and cabinet woods 
from the tropics. Wood is 
the common domestic fuel. 
Animal products. — None of the domestic animals, except 
mules and goats, is in sufficient supply. Plowed lands 
have been increasing at the expense of pasturage. Wool 
has for years been the largest import, and thousands of 
live cattle are brought in for beef, though cattle are the 
greatest animal industry. Supplying the markets with fine 
home-grown beef is a large business, except in the far south, 
where cattle are raised mostly for draft purposes. The 
north is a great dairying region drawn upon largely bj 




Pig. 109.— Average annual wine crop in 
million gallons (total crop 3,052 million 
gallons). 



FRANCE 



189 



England ; the best French cheeses are particularly famous 
(page 72). The superior home wools are reserved for the 
finest products of the French looms. Swine are much 




SCALE 1:15,000,000 



50 100 



Fig. 110.— Wine and fisheries. 

The shaded areas are the wine-growing regions. The leading fishery ports are shown 

by dots of various sizes, according to relative importance. 

neglected. Enormous quantities of eggs are sent abroad, 
mainly to England. 

France has high rank among fishing countries, owing 
mainly to the extent of the cod fisheries in American 
waters and the Xorth Sea, and the cultivation of the oyster 
along the Bay of Biscay and in the English Channel. The 
oyster, inferior to ours, is eaten only on the half-shell. 
Canned sardines are sent all over the world. Fig. 110 
shows the nature of the sea fisheries and the leading fish- 
ing ports (Fig. 111). 

Mineral products.— Although France has the fourth place 
among the coal- and iron-producing nations, her output of 



190 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



both is very small in comparison with the countries that 
surpass her (Figs. 61 and 67). She must import a great 
deal from the countries indicated by arrows in Fig. 105. 
France has the further disadvantage of having to bring 
coal and iron together from a considerable distance, the 
regions around Le Creuzot and St. Etienne being the only 
places where they are found near each other. Here are 




Fig. 111. — Sarduie-nsamg ouais in I'rance. 



the second largest coal supplies, three- fifths of the home 
supply being taken from the French-Belgian field near 
Lille. Nine-tenths of the iron ore is mined in the great 
field on which the city of Nancy stands ; Lille, Le Creuzot, 
and St. Etienne are the chief centers of steel manufac- 
tures. 

France lost her largest salt-mines when she ceded a part 



FRANCE 191 

of Lorraine to Germany. Most of her salt is now obtained 
by evaporating sea water in saline marshes along the west 
and south coasts. 

Manufactures. — France is fourth among the great indus- 
trial nations. In elegance of design and finish her products 
have surpassed those of all other nations. Many of her 
workmen are trained in art as well as in technical skill, and 
the results are manifest in the good taste and beauty of 
their products. Most of the factories are in the norths 
though there are many in the south as well. The center 
of the manufacturing industries is in Paris and its environs* 

Textiles. — Textiles, employing over 700,000 persons^ 
hold the first place. France is famous for the elegance of 
its silks, and Lyons is the greatest market for silk goods 
and the largest producer of silk dress-goods in Europe. As 
the silkworm industry in the Ehone valley has greatly de- 
clined, France imports from China, Japan, Italy, and Tur- 
key nine-tenths of the raw silk she consumes. Paris and 
nearly all the towns on the lower Ehone produce silk goods 
(pages 92, 93). The chief centers of the cotton industry 
are in the north, the largest at Eouen, where the cheaper 
kinds are produced ; another great group of cotton-mills is 
in Lille and its environs (Fig. 105). The country is unsur- 
passed in calico printing and dyeing. France is the third 
largest customer for our raw cotton, buying nearly half as 
much as Germany imports. Her goods suffice for the home 
demand, but she has very little for export. The country 
raises scarcely a fourth of the wool it manufactures, but 
woolen cloths, carpets, and tapestries are the greatest of 
all exports, everywhere holding their own against competi- 
tion. Linen is made chiefly in the north, at Lille, and 
other cities convenient to the flax supplies of Belgium and 
Russia. Little is exported. 

Among the numerous other industries are leather-work- 
ing, all the large cities having immense shoe factories ; kid 
and other gloves, a famous industry ; glassware, cut-glass, 
13 



192 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

and porcelain, much of the finest of which is sold abroad. 
Paris is the great center of goldsmithery, bronzes, per- 
fumery, and countless knickknacks and articles of luxury. 
It still leads the world in matters of taste, luxury, and 
fashion. 

The largest railroads converge at Paris and connect the 
capital with the steamship lines at all the seaports. 

Gommerce. — France is not among the greatest competi- 
tors for the world trade. The reason is because the univer- 
sal demand is for cheap machine-made goods, while the 
characteristic products of France, requiring manual skill 
and artistic treatment, do not enter so widely into this 
larger field. Her imports, always larger than the exports, 
are mainly food and raw materials. Her exports are not 
machinery and other heavy and bulky goods, but fine and 
costly textiles, innumerable novelties and artistic products, 
together with wine, sugar, and dairy products. 

The trade relations with Great Britain are much larger 
than with any other country ; but the cotton, cereals, petro- 
leum, meats, and other things we sell to France, almost 
equal in value the coal, metals, foodstuffs, and manufactures 
which France buys from Great Britian. 

The wheat crop of France is surpassed in quantity only 
by that of the United States and Eussia in Europe. Much 
wheat land in the northeast of France was overrun by the 
Germans in the recent war; and nearer the Belgian border, 
are both coal and iron which the Germans mined and carried 
off in large quantities. They did not reach the great regions 
of coal and iron further south. 

France does not import an enormous amount of food; 
and the coal and iron she has been compelled, for many 
years, to import for her industries, will, in future, be largely 
supplied by Alsace-Lorraine. These provinces were for- 
merly French territory but were seized by the Germans 
in 1871. 



CHAPTER XIX 

BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS 

Two races in Belgium. — The northern part of Belgium is 
inhabited by the Flemings and the southern part by a mix- 
ture of ancient peoples speaking French, which is the offi- 
cial language, though more than half the people speak 
Flemish. AYe have little idea how thickly these two peo- 
ples are crowded together. Belgium is only one-fourth as 
large as Xew York State, but there are nearly as many Bel- 
gians as Xew Yorkers. The towns are very numerous, far 
more people living in them than in the rural districts. 

The country is low and flat except in the southeast. 
The sandy soil has been made fertile by the most careful 
cultivation ; nearly all the land is turned to some good ac- 
count ; the Campine (Fig. 112), once worthless bog or sand 
waste, now restored to fertility, is a source of rich grasses 
and fine butter. 

Harbors and transportation. — There are no good harbors 
on the short seacoast. Seven-eighths of the sea trade passes 
through the port of AntAverp on the Schelde River, one of 
the leading ports of Europe, though it has access to the sea 
only through a foreign country. The deep Schelde empties 
into the Xorth Sea in the Xetherlands, but its importance 
for Belgium commerce is very great, as the Xetherlands 
guarantee freedom of navigation. The canals and rivers 
connecting Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges (Fig. 113) with the 
sea have been widened, so that they may now be used by 
large sea vessels. These improvements will give Belgium 
first-class facilities for sea trade; it already possesses more 

193 



194 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



miles of railroad and navigable streams and canals, in pro- 
portion to its size, than any other country in the world. 




Fig. 112. 



Agriculture. — Farming is of inferior importance, though 
three-fourths of the land is in small, highly tilled farms or 



BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS 



195 



in rich grass-lands (Fig. 112). So large a part of the people 
are engaged in mining or manufactures that the farmers 




Fig. 113. 



can not possibly raise enough breadstuffs to feed them, 
though a fourth of all the tilled land is in wheat ; so great 



196 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

quantities of wheat and maize are imported from our coun- 
try for men and live stock. Fig. 112 clearly shows the dis- 
tribution of the farm crops. Potatoes, the sugar-beet, vege- 
tables, flowers, and flax, however, not only fill the home 
demand, but have a surplus for export. Flax is the wealth 
of the Flemish peasantry (page 93). Cattle and sheep do 
not begin to meet the need for food and wool, and Belgium, 
therefore, is among our large customers for meats. 

Minerals. — Belgium is a great industrial country because 
she is very rich in coal (Fig. 113). Observe the great coal- 
field that stretches clear across the country and into France ; 
it occupies one-twentieth of Belgium's surface, yields over 
22,000,000 tons a year, three-fourths of the product being 
consumed at home, and most of the surplus sold to France. 
Iron is mined on the coal-fields around Namur and Liege, 
where most of it is smelted. Belgium has been called " Little 
England " because it also has coal and iron together ; but 
the iron supply is not sufiicient, and large quantities are 
brought to manufacturing towns near the coal, most of it 
being the rich ore of Luxemburg. Observe the zinc-mines 
on the eastern border ; they are among the richest in Europe. 

Manufactures. — You will infer from these facts that Bel- 
gium is a great manufacturing country, probably the great- 
est in the world in proportion to its size and population. 
Observe in Fig. 113 that manufactures are scattered all over 
the country except in the southeast and the Campine region 
of the north. Over 1,000,000 Belgians are at work in ths 
thousands of factories and shops. Observe how compara- 
tively small is the area of manufactures in the Netherlands. 
The metal industries, right on the field of coal and iron, 
are first in importance. Everything is made — from cannon 
and machinery to tools and nails — in the great metal -work- 
ing region, from Mons in the west to Yerviers in the east. 

Belgium makes the finest of cotton goods. Our raw 
cotton is taken up the Schelde Eiver to Ghent, the lead- 
ing cotton center, though several other towns are very im- 



BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS 197 

portant. Many cheap cottons, too, are made for the bar- 
barous tribes of the Congo. The best, and most, linen is 
made at Courtrai and Ghent, near the great flax-fields of 
Flanders. Over 150,000 women and girls at Mechlin and 
other places are making the famous Mechlin, Brussels, point, 
and other laces. The great woolen industries are on the 
eastern border at Verviers, Dolhain, and Limburg, where 
the home supplies of wool are largest. 

Glass must be mentioned, though many industries can 
not be noticed here. Belgian window glass, mirrors, and 
vessels have a high place in the world's markets, and the 
exports are large. The glass and porcelain works are along 
the coal belt, from Jemmapes to Liege. 

Commerce. — It is evident that the great business of Bel- 
gium is the making of goods and selling them at home and 
abroad. Mining and manufactures have made it one of the 
richest countries in Europe. As it can consume only a part 
of the goods it makes, it can not be prosperous unless it 
sells the large surplus in foreign markets ; the Belgians, 
therefore, push their foreign trade with much energy. 
Their largest trade is with the neighboring countries, ex- 
cept that their imports from the United States are usually 
larger than from any other country except France. 

The country buys foodstuffs and raw materials, and sells 
manufactures. Cereals, fibers, chemicals, and timber are 
the largest imports. Timber is a great import, because the 
country has meager forests, and needs the lumber of Scan- 
dinavia, the United States, and other countries. Antwerp 
is the greatest ivory market, because the Belgians control 
the Congo Colony, the largest source of ivory. The principal 
exports are yarn, coal, cloths, machinery, and metal wares, 
beet-sugar, glass, and zinc. We buy from Belgium less than 
half as much as we sell to her. While Germany occupied Bel- 
gium (1914-18) she worked the iron and coal mines besides 
impoverishing the people in many ways. No wonder the Bel- 
gians were glad when the enemy was expelled from their land. 



198 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. — This small neutral 
area, between Belgium and Germany (Fig. 113), is rich in 
iron ore, which it sells to neighboring countries. Iron and 
gloves are the chief manufactures. 

The Netherlands is poor in manufactures and rich in cat- 
tle and commerce. — It is a very prosperous country, but 
what a contrast it presents to Belgium ! It has no iron, 
and little coal, and therefore its manufactures are small. 
Belgium has raw materials, or buys them, enhances their 
value many times by manufacture, and sells the products 
to pay for her imports. How can the Dutch kingdom pay 
for its imports ? 

It has one great resource — its vast colonial possessions 
(Fig. 16), sixty times larger than the mother country and 
very rich in all colonial products (page 36). It imports 
these products, manufactures some of them, as Java raw 
sugar and quinin, and Sumatra tobacco, and sells them far 
and wide. The result is that the Netherlands is one of 
the greatest commercial nations, with a foreign trade far 
larger than that of Belgium, though their population is 
smaller. The Dutch are the most conspicuous example of 
the fact that commerce and agriculture, without manufac- 
tures, may make a nation rich. 

Farming. — Nearly half of the country lies below the 
level of the sea, so that great sea-walls have been built to 
keep the ocean out of the land. The polders — once un- 
healthful marshes, now drained — and the other rich grass 
lands near the sea (Fig. 112), sustain great numbers oi 
cattle, the largest resource of the Dutch farmer, who excels 
nearly all others in this industry. Many fat cattle are sent 
to England ; the whole world knows of the small, round 
Edam cheeses, of which as many as 200,000 at a time are 
often stored at Alkmaar awaiting export. Dairying is a 
great industry near the sea, where also the largest number 
of horses are raised; millions of sheep, prized more for 
their flesh than their wool, graze in the south. Though 



BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS 



199 



nearly a t^ird of the land is sandy and unproductive, great 
quantities of vegetables and flowers are raised for the home 
and British markets j the beet-fields supply thousands of 




Fig. 114.— Canal-boats at Rotterdam. 

tons of sugar for the refineries ; and factories, mainly at 
Amsterdam and Utrecht, work up the home crop of tobacco ; 
the zone of cereals, chiefly rye, is very important. 

The oyster and herring are taken in large quantities, and 
Dutch fishermen are very active in North Sea and Iceland 
cod fisheries. 

A network of canals covers the flat country (Fig. 114). 
There is no coasting trade, because the Dutch prefer to 
carry freight from one of their ports to another on the 



200 ELEMENTARY COMMEECIAL GEOGRAPHY 

canals. These canals connect with the Rhine, the Maas 
(Meuse, in Belgium), and the Schelde, so that a great deal 
of freight passes by water between the Dutch cities and 
hundreds of industrial towns in Germany and Belgium. 
Eailroads also give large transportation facilities, but are 
used mostly for the passenger and the international freight 
trade. 

The lack of minerals. — The country is poor in minerals, 
because it is largely composed of sand or soil (detritus) 
washed away from the banks of the Rhine and other rivers ; 
in other words, its formation is alluvial, and the tiny par- 
ticles brought by water were not worn away from mineral- 
bearing rocks. There is scarcely a stone in the country 
(page 2), though brick and pottery clays abound, so that 
brickyards are everywhere, and the glazed earthenware of 
Delft is famous. Without coal or water-power, wind-power 
is utilized to a larger extent than by any other nation. We 
scarcely see a picture of any part of the Netherlands with- 
out a windmill in it. 

Manufactures. — Coal and iron are imported from Eng- 
land and Germany for the limited iron industries of Am- 
sterdam, The Hague, and Flushing. Most of the industries 
relate to the transformation of agricultural products, as the 
liqueur, curac^ao, made from the orange-peel grown in the 
Dutch island of that name ; Holland gin, distilled from the 
rye ; cigars (many millions a year) from home-grown or 
East Indies leaf. Some textiles are produced at towns in- 
dicated in Eig. 113. Diamond-cutting, a great .industry at 
Amsterdam, is not now so important as formerly, because 
the business has extended to Antwerp, Paris, Xew York, 
and other cities. 

The transit trade. — A very profitable branch of com- 
merce is the business of carrying freight for other nations. 
A great deal of the trade of Germany, and even of Austria 
and Switzerland, with other countries passes through the 
Netherlands. The Dutch reap a large share of the profits 



BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS 201 

of this carrying trade ; the money is spent at home and 
the nation benefits by it. Rotterdam and Amsterdam han- 
dle most of the sea trade ; and Rotterdam, with its splendid 
position at the mouth of the Rhine, is one of the greatest 
forwarding ports for other nations in the world. Do you 
not think that France's position also enables it to reap 
large profits from the transit trade ? 

Commerce. — The Dutch are great sailors and most of the 
trade of their country is maritime. Its largest feature is 
the import and reexport of colonial products. We buy a 
great deal of Sumatra tobacco, Java coffee, and sugar and 
other products of the Dutch East Indies ; but nearly all of 
them go to the Netherlands first and the Dutch sell them 
to us at a good profit ; in the same way they spread the 
products of their colonies through all the great countries, 
and they make at home or buy abroad cotton goods and 
many other things which they sell to the colonies. Thus 
they are great merchants, their best customers, excepting 
Europe, being their colonies. They have a very wide mar- 
ket for their colonial products ; their market for home 
products, mainly butter, cheese, live cattle, meat, and oleo- 
margarine, is restricted to the neighboring countries. 
Their imports from the near-by countries are chiefly manu- 
factures, coal, metals, and lumber. They added to their 
plowed lands by cutting down their timber, and so need 
much lumber. We sell them such commodities as they buy 
from Europe except coal, and in addition foodstuffs, leaf 
tobacco, and kerosene — about one-eighth of all they pur- 
chase abroad. Compare the figures of their exports and 
imports with those of Belgium (statistical tables). 

The fact that the Netherlands buy not only food and 
raw materials, but must depend largely upon other coun- 
tries for manufactured goods, explains why the country is 
a free-trade nation, so that the people may procure the 
necessities and comforts of life cheaply. 



OHAPTEE XX 

SCANDINAVIA 

Sweden, Norway, Denmark. 

The kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. — The kingdoms 
stand on a high plateau, forming the largest peninsula of 
Europe. As the west coast receives the warm, moist At- 
lantic winds, the fifty ports are open the year round. The 
high mountain-ranges behind these ports ward off the 
warm winds from the east side of the peninsula, so that 
the east-coast pOrts are closed by ice from three to five 
months in the year; thus these mountains have a great 
effect upon climate and commerce (page 10). The peo- 
ple are strong, industrious, honest, and well educated. 

Agriculture. — Much less than half the people are farm- 
ers. South of Stockholm (Fig. 115), in the large plain which 
stretches across the country, are found most of the fields 
of rye, oats, barley, and wheat ; here, too, are most of the 
cattle and sheep. As the people can not raise enough 
breadstuffs, they must import a considerable quantity, in- 
cluding a little of our wheat ; some oats are exported. 
They raise the sugar-beet, but not enough to supply all the 
sugar they need. The sheep can not supply all the wool 
needed for the mills of Sweden ; the cattle alone suffice for 
the needs of the kingdom. Millions of pounds of butter are 
exported, mainly to England. 

The forests. — North of the farm-lands stretch the forests 
of pines, firs, and spruces. They cover the most of the 
country. The rivers, few of them useful for navigation, 
202 



SCANDINAVIA T 

Jlincs, Industries, 
Commorco 

SCALE, 1 : 14.000,000 

MILES » 

^— ^^ ^--"^ 




./^ 



Fig. 115.— The most important Swedish railroad connects Stockholm and Goteborg, 
the leading ports, A number of branches north and south of the main line pro- 
vide the more populous part of the country with adequate transportation. The 
most important of these branches connect the capital with Christiania on the 
north and Malmo on the south. Trondhjem, a fiord port that never freezes, has 
become the winter port of Stockholm since the railroad across the peninsula was 
built. ObserA'e the short branch lines from the northern railroad, which carry 
timber, naval stores, and iron and copper ores to small shipping ports on the Gulf 
of Bothnia. The most important of these ports is Gefle, the center of the Swedish 
forest industries, 

203 



204 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

furnish water-power to run over 5,000 sawmills. Xo other 
source of lumber is so convenient to the great importing 
countries of north Europe ; the kingdoms, therefore, are 
the greatest lumber- and timber-exporting countries in the 
world. As trees grow slowly on the rocky soil, their tex- 
ture is close-grained and tough, and the lumber they supply 
is unsurpassed. Lumber, turpentine, and rosin are nearly 
half the exports. 

The fisheries. — This industry is very important. Three- 
fourths of the catch is taken on the Norway coasts, where 
the cod of the north and the herring of the south are 
among the most important fisheries of the world. The 
greatest center is the Lofoten Islands, north of the arctic 
circle, where 80,000 men, in their small vessels, are busy 
during the spring months catching and curing cod. Four- 
fifths of the cod and herring catch is sent to the fish- 
buying countries of Europe. Mackerel and salmon are 
also important. Fish appears on the table of the poorest 
peasant every day. 

Minerals. — Iron ores, many of them of the very best 
steel-making quality, are the largest source of mineral 
wealth. Observe in Fig. 115 the great Grellivare iron-ore 
mines, 130 miles north of the arctic circle, to which a rail- 
road has been built to deliver the ores at the port of Lulea. 
The road has now been extended to the Atlantic coast. 
Other ores mined near Gefle, Falun, and Dannemora make 
the output about 4,000,000 tons a year. If Sweden had 
more than the scantiest supply of coal she might become a 
great pig iron and steel-making country ; as it is, a great 
part of the ore is exported to England and Germany. Sil- 
ver, copper, and zinc are worked as indicated in Fig. 115. 

Manufactures. — The kingdoms are not great manufactur- 
ing countries, because coal is lacking and population and 
capital are small. Some steel is made, but no country 
using charcoal to smelt iron ores can ever compete with 
the great steel producers. Home-made steel is used in the 



SCANDINAVIA 205 

manufacture of machinery, tools, and hardware at several 
towns in the Stockholm district. The chief industries are 
derived from wood — such as cheap furniture, wood-pulp, 
and matches ; many tons of matches are sent to all parts 
of the world. The cotton- and woolen-mills of the Stock- 
holm district and Goteborg are far from filling the home 
needs ; but women at their spinning-wheels and looms, in 
the homes, nearly fill the demand for linen. These facts 
show that most manufactures must come from foreign 
lands. 

Ports and railroads. — All ports on the west coast of Nor- 
way are fishing ports. Goteborg is the most active, because 
it is more conveniently situated than Stockholm for trade- 
with all the North Sea and Baltic ports that command 
most of the trade of the kingdom ; but Stockholm is also a 
great commercial center, being the distributing point by 
sea and rail for a large part of Sweden. Christiania is an 
industrial city and, with neighboring ports, ships much 
lumber. 

Maritime enterprise. — The Norwegians are a race of sail- 
ors, with the largest merchant marine, in proportion to 
population, in the world. As their own commerce is small, 
their ships and crews take part in the trade of many other 
countries, as, for example, in our tropical fruit trade. They 
help to pay for the many things Norway buys from other 
countries with the money they earn by carrying foreign 
freight. 

Commerce. — The kingdoms need to buy many things, 
but have not m.any commodities to sell. The forests, fish- 
eries, iron- and zinc-mines, dairies, and oat-fields yield the 
export articles. A little coal is mined, but far more is im- 
ported ; no fruits, salt, cotton, or coffee being produced, they 
must be purchased abroad. Foreign textiles, wool, ma- 
chinery, railroad iron, hog products, and many other things 
must be bought in other lands. The result is that the im- 
ports are much larger than the exports. 



206 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

The larger part of their trade is with the countries 
bordering on the Baltic and l^orth Seas. We have lumber, 
fish, metals, and dairy products near at hand, and so need 
to buy only about 15,000,000 a year of such things as the 
kingdoms sell ; but the Swedes and Norwegians need to buy 
our wheat, provisions, tools, machinery, leather goods, and 
other articles worth two to four times as much every year 
as the things they sell to us. 

The population is a little larger than that of Belgium, 
but the foreign trade is not a third as great as Belgium's 
commerce. 

Denmark. — This little kingdom is the lowest country in 
Europe, except the Netherlands. The western half forms 
the peninsula of Jutland, with many fine pastures, but also 
many peat-bogs and sand wastes. Fertile islands in the 
Baltic form the eastern and most valuable part of the king- 
dom. The waterways between the islands make communi- 
cations very easy. All the ports are on the Baltic, and have 
the disadvantage of freezing in winter. 

Agriculture and dairying. — Most of the Danes are farm- 
ers, and few people have equaled their success in tilling 
the soil and cattle-raising. The dairy industry leads ; and 
with half the land in grass, hay, oats, and root crops for 
cattle, horses, and sheep, it is no wonder that breadstuffs 
must be imported, though large crops of cereals are raised. 
Dairy products are the largest exports, the Danes having 
secured a great market, because they take so much pains 
to make excellent butter and cheese. Great Britain, their 
best customer, buys more than 133,000,000 worth of butter 
from them every year. Do you not think the Danes are 
showing that it is not only right but also most profitable 
to turn out the very best and most honest products a man 
can produce ? 

Manufactures. — With over three-fourths of the people 
engaged in agriculture, and with no coal, metals, or water- 
power, it is natural that the manufactures should be small 



SCANDINAVIA 207 

and only for home consumption. They depend for mate- 
rial mostly upon agricultural products, as flour mills, beet- 
sugar works, distilleries, and breweries. Tanning is impor- 
tant where there are so many cattle, and leather goods, 
tobaoco wares, sail cloth, and a few other home-made arti- 
cles have a great sale among the farmers and sailors of the 
kingdom. Copenhagen makes machinery and porcelain 
and builds ships. Odense is also an important industrial 
town. 

The forwarding trade. — Copenhagen, the only large port, 
standing at the entrance to the Baltic, does a great busi- 
ness in forwarding freight to all the Baltic ports. It uses 
smaller steamers to send goods that large vessels have 
brought to ports of Sweden, Eussia, and Germany. To 
facilitate this growing trade a free port was established in 
1894 (Fig. 102). 

Commerce. — Butter, eggs, meat, and live animals are al- 
most the only exports. As the Danes have little timber, 
they must buy lumber from Norway and Sweden. Coal, 
textiles, machinery, hardware, and breadstuffs are also large 
purchases. Most of the trade is with north Europe and 
the United States. We send many manufactures, besides 
breadstuff s and cotton. 

Danish colonies. — The Faroe Islands raise many sheep 
and export wool, down and feathers from the eider-duck 
and other birds. Iceland has steam connections with Co- 
penhagen every three weeks. Its exports of wool, eider- 
down, and minerals exceed the imports of textiles, food- 
stuffs, hardware, and coal. The trade of Greenland, except 
the whale fisheries (exports, furs, hides, eider-down, and 
seal-oil), is a monopoly of the Danish Government. The 
Danish West Indies produce sugar. (See Colonies, p. 36.) 



14 



CHAPTEE XXI 

SWITZERLAND 

Switzerland's disadvantages. — We have seen that abun- 
dance of coal and iron and great shipping ports have helped 
to place the United States and Great Britain in the front 
of the industrial and commercial nations. Let us now 
turn to the little republic of Switzerland, which, with- 
out a mile of seacoast and with almost no coal or iron, is 
one of the leading industrial nations and has large com- 
merce. We may be sure that Switzerland has some great 
advantages which offset her unfavorable conditions. 

Physical features. — One-half of this mountainous land 
lies above the zone of agriculture, producing very little ex- 
cept for the grass-lands on the mountainsides, below the 
snow and ice, where many thousands of cattle graze in 
summer (Fig. 116). But between the Jura Mountains on 
the north and the Alps on the south is a wide, hilly, well- 
watered plain ; here is where most of the people live on their 
farms or in the towns or cities, in which the hum of mills 
and factories is always heard. The southern slopes of many 
hills and mountains, catching the warmest rays of the sun, 
are planted with vineyards and orchards. There are no 
navigable rivers, but many lakes on the plain float a great 
deal of the internal trade. Both the highways and the 
railroads are unsurpassed ; and passenger or freight rates 
by water or rail are very cheap (Fig. 117). 

Agriculture. — Only about one-sixth of the country is 
tilled. Switzerland buys from Hungary, Eussia, and the 
United States nearly three times as much wheat and twice 
208 



SWITZERLAND 



209 



as mucli rye as she produces. Apples, pears, and clierries 
are a larger source of profit than grain. Wine culture is a 



SWITZERLAND \ S, 

{CvqJn f, 
SCALE, 1:3,800,000 




Fig. 116.— Industries and agriculture. 

very profitable industry, but the Swiss import much more 
wine than they make. 

The wide-spread hay and pasture lands make animal- 
raising much more important than tillage. The Swiss are 
as famous for cheese as the Danes are for butter. In the 
spring tens of thousands of cows are driven up to the high- 
land pastures among the mountains, and are kept there all 
summer, tended by many herders, who milk the cows and 
make the cheese and butter ; cheese is the larger product, 
as it is more ])rofitable than butter-making; supplies are 
often taken to the herders and the dairy products are car- 
ried down to the markets. Still greater quantities of cheese 
also are made on the plain ; three-fifths of the product is 
sent to all parts of the world. Many sheep and goats (for 
kid-skins and Morocco leather) also pasture in the high- 
lands. 



210 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 




Fie. 117.— Five railroads crosBing the Jura Mountains connect with through lines to 
the Atlantic and North Sea ports of France, Belgium, Germany, and the Neth- 
erlands. The route from France to Austria through Basel and Zurich passes 
through the Arlberg tunnel, six and a half miles long ; the greatest international 
route passes via Basel and Luzern through the St. Gotthard tunnel, nine and a 
quarter miles long, to Milan and Genoa ; the Simplon tunnel, twelve and a half 
miles long, was opened in 1906 and gives Paris the most direct communica- 
tion with Milan, the largest center of Italian trade. Observe the routes from 
all the frontiers leading to the ports and commercial centers of the surrounding 
countries. 

Geneva, standing at the point where the Rhone River leaves Lake Geneva, is a 
distributing and forwarding city : the convergence of railroads at Basel makes it 
a very important commercial center and forwarding point ; Zurich is the largest, 
most beautiful, and industrially active city. 

Though Switzerland has over 2,000,000 cattle, about 
50,000 fat beeves are imported for food every summer, when 
the mountains are filled with tourists. The largest im- 
ports, in fact, are grain, cattle, and other food supplies. 

The country is almost destitute of mineral resources 
except rock-salt and building stone. A very little iron and 
anthracite are mined. 

Manufactures. — The really great industry of the coun- 
try is manufacturing. Though Switzerland has no steam 
coal, the mountain torrents supply water-power which 



SWITZERLAND 211 

drives most of the machinery. It is a long distance to sea- 
ports, but Swiss goods have a reputation for excellence and 
fineness, and therefore, being comparatively high-priced, 
they can bear the cost of transportation to the sea and 
foreign countries. Observe in Fig. 116 how the industries 
are grouped along the east, north, and west sides of the 
central plain. The factory regions fringe the farm-lands 
on three sides. There are large industrial centers also far 
out in the plain. Zurich, Bern, and St. Gallon are the 
largest manufacturing cities. 

The textile and metal industries are most important. 
Swiss cotton cloths, made in St. Gallon and the neighbor- 
ing cantons, rival the best British fabrics ; these cloths and 
raw and dyed yarns are sent all over the world. The exports 
of silk goods (dress goods at Zurich and ribbons at Basel) 
are even more valuable (page 93). Some raw silk is produced, 
but more is imported. Machine-made laces employ about 
20,000 operatives. Woolen manufactures, far behind cotton 
and silk, figure in the foreign trade only in the imports. 

Machinery, watches and clocks, and jewelry are the 
most notable features of the metal industries. The gold 
and silver which Switzerland imports for her watch and 
jewelry industries sometimes surpass in value the large 
quantities of coal that she purchases. Observe the cen- 
ters of the watch industry in the west, where hundreds 
of thousands of watches, many of them cheap timepieces, 
are made every year; five-sixths of them are exported. 
Large supplies of iron and steel are imported and paid for 
by machinery and other iron products that are sold abroad. 
Machinery, made most extensively at Winterthur, Zurich, 
and Geneva, has a high reputation and sells readily in other 
countries. 

A large amount of manufacturing is carried on at the 
homes of the operatives, such as some kinds of silk and 
embroidery products, straw-plaiting, and much of the 
watch- and clock-making. 



212 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Commerce. — The neighbors of Switzerland figure most 
largely in her foreign trade. Germany, France, Austria- 
Hungary, and Italy buy most of her export manufactures, 
and sell her many of the manufacturing and food materials 
she needs. Kext to food, raw silk, coming from Italy and 
the Orient, is the largest import. Nearly a third of the 
entire purchases are coal, coke, iron, sugar and other f ood= 
stuffs coming from Germany. Wheat, cotton, and petro- 
leum are about two-thirds of the value of imports from the 
United States. Genoa, Marseilles, and the German ports 
all share in forwarding the goods we send to Switzerland. 

Practically all the exports are manufactures. Silk goods 
head the list, and after them come cotton yarn and cloths, 
watches, machinery (particularly for spinning and weaving), 
cheese, condensed milk, and other articles. Cotton embroid- 
eries, the largest export to the United States, are worth more 
than double the raw cotton that Switzerland buys in this 
country. 

Abundant water-power, excellent manufactures, near-by 
markets, and fine communications with seaports, compen- 
sate Switzerland for distance from the sea, poverty in coal 
and iron, and insufificient home supplies of food. The Alpine 
scenery, also, attracting millions of tourists, is a money- 
making resource that goes far toward buying the foreign 
food and manufacturing materials required. 



CHAPTER XXII 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

The mixture of races. — There are four principal and sev- 
eral secondary races in this great monarchy, each speaking 
its own language. The Germans are most numerous, live 
chiefly in Austria, and their language is the leading com- 
mercial tongue. Sometimes there is hitter strife between 
the Germans and the Magyars of Hungary, or the Czechs 
and other branches of the Slavonic race. Not long ago the 
Czechs refused, for a time, to trade with the Germans. The 
empire is thus seen to lack the national patriotism that 
makes all Frenchmen, for example, willing to expend mil- 
lions of the public money in canals, railroads, and harbors 
for the common good of the country. No nation can de- 
velop its natural riches to the best advantage unless all the 
people bring willing hands and hearts to the work. Austria- 
Hungary lacks national unity ; this is one of the reasons 
why the vast resources of the empire are yet only partly 
developed. 

Position and communications. — Just half-way between the 
equator and the north pole, the southern provinces, on the 
Adriatic, have mild winters and dry summers and produce 
the olive, fig, and other southern fruits. In the east, the 
great and small flat plains of Hungary, larger than Okla- 
homa, are hot in summer and cold in winter, like our west- 
ern prairies, and excel in grain and live-stock products. 
The hilly and mountainous west is adapted for general 
agriculture. Only the Alps have large rair.iall, and the 
quantity of cereals varies greatly with the amount of rain. 

213 



214 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Though walled in by mountains and highlands, the em- 
pire has good communications with other lands through the 
deep valleys, the mountain passes, and the navigable rivers. 
The Elbe, navigable from above Prague (Fig. 103), is the 
cheapest means of communication between Austria, the 
North Sea, and the Atlantic. The Vistula, navigable to 
Cracow (Fig. 101), connects the eastern part of the empire 
with Warsaw and Danzig on the Baltic. The Danube sys- 
tem, invaluable for internal trade, is not so important for 
international commerce, because it drains to an inland sea 
(Fig. 119) far from the great foreign centers of trade. Un- 
fortunately, no important rivers flow to the Adriatic, rail- 
roads being the only means of communications with Trieste 
(the port of Austria) and Fiume (the outlet for Hungary's 
wheat). The railroads, only a third as extensive as the 
French system, converge at Vienna and Budapest, the 
great commercial and industrial centers, and at the two 
ports. 

Agriculture. — Most of the people till the land or raise live 
stock, utilizing nearly all the soil except the snow moun- 
tains, and a few barren or marshy districts ; so the empire, 
with immense resources for manufacturing, is mainly agri- 
cultural. The farmers produce only wheat, cattle, sugar, 
and eggs in large export quantities. Farm machinery is 
used only on the large estates, the peasantry clinging to 
primitive methods of tillage. The enormous potato crop 
barely meets the home demand. Maize is imported from 
Eumania and the United States, though it grows well in 
the south. 

The great crop is wheat, on the alluvial plain of Hungary, 
one of the granaries of the world (Fig. 118). Large quan- 
tities are sent to the wheat-buying countries of Europe; 
they pay the highest prices also for Hungarian flour, a 
superior article, milled at Budapest and elsewhere by the 
best processes. It is wheat and its products alone that 
make the empire very important in agricultural exports. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



215 



Tobacco is a Government monopoly, manufactured in only 
about forty factories, the state also buying millions of 



Havana cigars and retailing them. 




AUSTRIA-HUKGARY 

SCALE, 1:14,500,000 
SCALE OF MILES 



50 100 150 200 
! Largest Forest Regions 
Tlie Vine 

Largest Production of 
Wlieatfor Export 



Fig. 118. 



Wine. — Wine culture is a large resource in the southern 
part of the empire (Fig. 118). The wines of Hungary, 
Tokay, and others are most esteemed, and supply about half 
of the output. The methods of production, far inferior to 
those of France, are improving under Government en- 
couragement. The distinctive excellencies of a few Hun- 
garian wines make them important exports, though the 
empire still buys from Italy far more wine than it sells 
abroad. 

Animals. — With a fourth of the land in pastures, more 
horses are raised than in any other country of Europe ex- 
cept Eussia. Hungary is famous for fine mules, this animal 
flourishing in all the southern countries of Europe. There 



216 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

are more than enough cattle for the home demand, though 
the quality might be better. Many stall-fed cattle are sold 
in Switzerland and other neighboring countries. Two bil- 
lion eggs a year are exported. 

Forests. — About a third of the land is in forests (Fig. 
118), which are a large source of wealth ; lumber and staves 
for wine and beer casks are sent to Germany, Italy, and 
France. 

Minerals. — The resources of the mines are enormous, 
but the empire as yet utilizes this great wealth only to a 
moderate extent. Observe in Fig. 119 the distribution of 
the minerals. In spite of the great coal-fields of the north, 
coal is imported from Germany to feed the large industries 
there. The best iron ores, unfortunately, are not found 
near the coal ; some of them are smelted with charcoal ; 
the distance between coal and iron diminishes the impor- 
tance of Austria's iron industries. 

Manufactures. — Several influences tend to keep the manu- 
facturing industries in a subordinate place. The slow intro- 
duction of new machinery and methods, the situation of 
the industrial centers far from the ocean, race animosities, 
and high freight rates, all help to keep Austria out of the 
list of the great manufacturing countries; but still her 
varied industries supply a large part of the home demand. 
Fig. 119 shows that the textile industries are mostly grouped 
on the northern coal-fields, and that Vienna also, with its 
great silk, carpet, machinery, and fancy goods industries is 
another center of intense industrial activity. Budapest is 
the only great center in Hungary. The population, natu= 
rally, is most dense in these regions. The cotton-mills, 
however, do not make enough cotton cloth to supply the 
country ; and though the woolen-mills export cloth, they 
import a great deal of yarn. The metal industries, in the 
north among the cotton- and woolen-mills, at Vienna, and 
in the region west and southwest of it, produce large quan- 
titles of machinery, tools, and railroad materials. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



217 




INDUSTRIES AND 

MINERAL PRODUCTS 

OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



Fig. 119.— The lead mines of Bleiburg are the richest in Europe. The quicksilver 
mines at Idria are surpassed in Europe only by the Spanish mines at Almaden. 
The empire excels all other European countries in salt resources, though not in 
the quantity produced. The most remarkable development is in the mines of 
Wieliczka-Bochnia. in Galicia, where the mass of rock salt is 300 miles long and 
1,200 feet thick. Thirty miles of galleries have been dug into this mass, and 
mining villages stand far below the surface. Petroleum is produced in Galicia, 
but so much cheap Russian kerosene is imported that small use is made of the 
local oil resources. The map shows the distribution of gold, silver, and copper, 
none of which is very important. 

Enormous quantities of grrain and other freight are carried on the Theisa, 
Drave, and Save, tributaries of the Danube. A canal, begun in 1902. was 
finally completed between the Theiss and Danube to shorten the distance by 
water to Budapest and Vienna. 



Our imports of Austrian bent-wood furniture come mainly 
from Vienna. Bohemian glass, famous all over the world, 
is a product of the north, with Pilsen, Eger, and neighbor- 
ing places as the chief centers of this and other glass and 
porcelain industries. The beer of Pilsen and Vienna — the 
product, in part, of the superior hops of Bohemia — is sent 
all over the world. Among the other industries are leather- 
wares, Austrian gloves being among the large exports- 



218 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

Commerce. — Several steamship-lines from the two ports 
make regular connections with Mediterranean, Oriental, 
and United States ports ; but most of the European trade 
goes overland. With a population nearly seven times as 
great as that of Belgium, the empire has a smaller foreign 
trade. Four-sevenths of the foreign purchases are raw or 
partly manufactured materials, such as cotton, wool and 
yarn, and cloth; the balance is machinery and general 
manufactures. Germany has naturally the larger share of 
the trade, with England next in importance. The leading 
exports have been mentioned except coal, for though Austria 
does not mine enough for her own needs, she sells a great 
deal to Italy, which has no coal. Egypt supplies two-thirds 
of the cotton. We sell cotton, maize, provisions, and other 
things to the value of about $13,000,000 a year, which is 
fully equal to the value of the raw sugar, glassware, gloves, 
porcelain, musical instruments, and beer that we purchase 
from the empire. 

The great need of Austria-Hungary is larger develop- 
ment of the mining and manufacturing industries. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

RUSSIA IN EUROPE 

More than one-half of Europe is included in Russia 
proper. This vast region, though thinly inhabited, con- 
tains about as many human beings as the whole of North 
America. The people live on a low plain, few parts of 
which are more than 300 to 600 feet above sea-level. We 
should expect that the population would be small in the 
forest regions of the north and in the grazing lands and 
steppes of the extreme south ; in fact, most of the Rus- 
sians live on the almost treeless plains between the forests 
of the north and the steppes of the south. Observe the 
region marked " Black-earth Land," the greatest region of 
agriculture. The rich soil of this land supports more than 
one-half of the Russians and produces nearly seven-tenths 
of the great grain crop of the country. Fig. 120 gives a 
clear idea of the vegetable and animal products of Russia. 

Climate. — As the country extends from the Arctic Ocean 
to the latitude of Italy, it has much variety of climate. 
Vineyards overlook the Black Sea, while the soil in the far 
north is perpetually frozen. In the long and cold winters 
the rivers and canals freeze, so that the greatest highways 
of the country are closed for months. The summers, south 
of the forests, are hot and the rainfall during the growing 
months is sometimes so small that crop failure and famine 
afflict large districts. 

Agriculture. — Farming is the greatest resource. Russia 
pays for the manufactures she buys with the farm products 
she exports. Agriculture, however, is in a very backward 

219 



^° U.jsj3- 




RUSSIA ^/Sebast, 

jigriculture, / / 

manufactures j-ry \ r 
and Fisheries, < i^ / ^ 

^^ Tundra 

^^S Forests 

Forests and Tillage 
Predominant Ayriculture 

C^ industrial Areas 



Fig. 120.— The vegetation may be divided into five areas : (1) The tundra (treeless 
land), on the arctic coast, growing reindeer-moss, lichens, and stunted shrubs ; 
(2) the forest, south of the tundra, covering more than a third of the country, 
extending over the whole north and part of the central regions ; (3) the farm 
lands, where most of the root, grain, and fiber crops are grown, stretching in a 
wide zone south of the forests. (This agricultural zone or black-earth region, 
covered to various depths with a dark, rich, vegetable humus, is Russia's greatest 
source of wealth, as it is the great wheat-growing region.) (4) The fertile steppes 
of the southwest and south, where millions of cattle, sheep, and horses graze ; 
(5) the sterile or salt steppes of the southeast, unfertile on account of very small 
precipitation, inhabited only by nomads. 

220 



RUSSIA IN EUROPE 221 

state. The peasantry are ignorant, farm machinery is used 
only on the larger estates, and the land is so poorly tilled 
that English farmers raise from two to four times as much 
grain to the acre as the Eussian farmers. No detached, 
finely kept farms, such as are found everywhere in our 
country, are to be seen. The peasant lives in a village 
and goes out in the morning to till land allotted to him 
but owned by the community. Eecently, however, the 
Government has begun to make it possible for the more 
thrifty farmers to buy their little holdings. 

The great crops are grain, potatoes, sugar-beet, flax, 
hemp, and tobacco. No country, except the United States, 
exports so much grain as Eussia sells to other lands. Poor 
as the farming is, Eussia produces about two-thirds of the 
oats and half of the rye of Europe, more barley than any 
other European country, more hemp and flax than any 
other country in the world, and a wheat crop that is sur- 
passed only in our own land. Eye, the leading home 
breadstuff, yields double the quantity of the wheat crop, 
but is not so important for export as wheat. In the best 
wheat years Eussia exports as much as 95,000,000 bushels 
of wheat. A large part of the great potato crop is used in 
the manufacture of alcoholic spirits, as on the plains of 
Prussia (page 177). The Government has long desired that 
Ruspia should produce all the sugar it consumes ; this re- 
sult has been accomplished, beet-sugar not only supplying 
all the home demand, but also much of the sugar required 
in all Black Sea countries and Persia. Flax and hemp 
fibers are the largest export except grain ; Eussia controls 
the flax markets of the world. The country ranks after 
Germany and Austria-Hungary in the production of tobacco, 
growing about 180^000^000 pounds a year. Wine, produced 
only in the south, is a large crop, but does not meet the 
home demand. Observe in Fig. 120 the chief areas de- 
voted to these products. 

The forests yield an immense quantity of fuel and lum- 



222 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ber. Wood is the chief fuel not only in the houses, but also 
for steam in the factories, and even for smelting iron ores 
(charcoal). The wood exports to the lumber and timber 
importing countries of north Europe amount to about 
$40,000,000 a year. 

Animal products. — In the forests live large numbers of 
stags, elks, wolves, squirrels, lynxes, beavers, bears, and 
other animals whose skins and furs are in such demand 
that the fruits of the chase are very valuable. Though 
Eussia has not only the most but the best horses in Europe, 
the breeding of other animals is carried on so unskilfully 
that they are quite inferior. Most of the cattle and sheep 
are raised on the wide southern steppes. The dairy indus- 
try flourishes only north of the steppes, near the cities 
where butter and cheese are in large demand; but the 
main purpose of cattle-raising is for meat, hides, and tal- 
low. The sheep, better in quality than the cattle, produce 
more wool than any flocks of Europe except those of Great 
Britain, Eussian woolen-mills consuming nearly the entire 
wool crop. Bristles are about the only exports provided 
by the millions of swine. Eussia has much to learn from 
other nations as to the most profitable methods of utilizing 
domestic animals. 

Minerals. — Eussia has enormous wealth underground, but 
development has been slow on account of poor communi- 
cations with the mining regions, antiquated methods of 
mming, and the exhaustion of the wood-fuel supplies in 
the mining districts. Observe (Fig. 121) the distribution 
of the large coal-fields : the central coal supply near Mos- 
cow, feeding its large industries ; the Donetz field in the 
south, where there are large iron and other industries ; and 
the coal southwest of Warsaw, where there are large cotton 
and metal industries. These fields now supply four-fifths 
of the home demand, but England sends a great deal to St. 
Petersburg and other Baltic cities. Most of the iron-mines 
are not yet connected by rail with the main sources of 



RUSSIA 

Minerals, so. 
Navigable Rivers 
^ and Seaport 




^Codl SSUverl 1* Mercury 

X Gold ' • Copper 4 Lead 
P Platinum a Iron Z. Zinc 

• Chief Seaports 

• Seaports 

vj. Head of Navigation ^^^ 
»««-n CanaU 30 /^ 



Fig. 121.— The rivers, navigable almost to their sources and easily connected by- 
canals, provide continuous highways from the Baltic to the Caspian Seas. They 
carry enonnous commerce, and are the chief and cheapest means of communica- 
tion. The Russian rivers have natural disadvantages : they are closed by ice in 
the long winters ; all except the arctic tributaries terminate in inland seas ; defi- 
cient rainfall impedes navigation in some southern rivers, most notably the Don. 

223 



15 



224 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

coal. Iron smelting must always be inferior as long as 
charcoal instead of coke is the fuel used. Still Russia 
supplies four-fifths of the pig iron used in her industries 
and makes nearly all her steel. Most of the blast-furnaces 
are in the Ural mining district and near the Donetz coal- 
field, and the metal is worked chiefly in south Eussia. All 
the metals indicated in Fig. 121 are important in the 
trade and industries of the country. Russia supplies nearly 
all the world's platinum, which is specially valuable for 
chemical apparatus because it is not injured by acids. 

Manufactures. — The Government is striving, with much 
success, to make Russia independent of the manufactures 
of foreign lands. It imposes a high tariff on foreign goods, 
and has a Department of Manufactures and Trade which has 
special charge of industrial interests. The result is, that 
large industries have been built up, the factory system has 
been introduced, and much modern machinery is used. 
The time was when even the Russian army was uniformed 
in British cloth, and most manufactures were brought from 
other lands ; but to-day Russia makes all she needs of 
many kinds of goods. Her industrial system is embar- 
rassed, however, by the fact that most of the people are 
farmers, and the methods employed are therefore quite 
different from those in our country. 

Most Russian factory hands work on their farms in sum- 
mer and spend their winters in the factories ; or they toil 
during the winter in their village homes, as their fathers 
did before them, making many kinds of goods for the man- 
ufacturers who employ them. The 2,300,000 persons em- 
ployed in the village and large factories make nearly every- 
thing that is needed except paper, glass, chinaware, and 
chemical products. 

Moscow is the greatest industrial center; being the 
railroad center of Russia, it is most conveniently situated 
for receiving raw materials and distributing products. 
Observe in Fig. 121 the large industrial districts, those 



RUSSIA IN EUROPE 225 

around Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula, and the region about 
Warsaw and Lodz being most important. The home cot- 
ton cloths exclude all except the very finest foreign fab- 
rics ; the importation of woolen goods is steadily falling 
off with the growth of woolen weaving ; the silk industry 
centers at Moscow ; linen manufacture is a house industry 
throughout the empire ; in making ropes and cordage Rus- 
sia is not surpassed by any other country ; leather manu- 
facture is a famous industry all over the country ; Russia 
leather, tanned with birch-oil, is now made in other lands. 

Metal products do not compete in quality with for- 
eign countries ; the result is that large amounts of ma- 
chinery and other iron and steel goods are imported from 
Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and other 
nations. All the ports build ships ; thousands of river 
boats for grain and timber are sold every year. Rus- 
sian manufactures, generally speaking, are for home con- 
sumption and export by the land routes to Asia. The 
country can not compete with the great industrial nations 
for an important share of the international trade. 

Fairs. — Great fairs (page 33) are still held in Russia at 
Xizhni-Novgorod, Kharkof, Poltava, and Kief; but the 
importance of these market-places is declining, because 
more railroads and cheaper travel make it easy for mer- 
chants to buy in many towns where goods are made and 
kept in large stock. 

Transportation. — In the summer season many thousands 
of freight and passenger boats ply on the 46,000 miles of 
navigable waters which have been improved by deepening 
many rivers and connecting them with canals. Boats, for 
example, may travel by three routes between the Arctic 
Ocean and the Caspian Sea ; by three routes between the 
Baltic and the Caspian ; and by three routes between the 
Baltic and the Black Seas. More than three-fifths of all 
the river traffic is carried on the Volga and Neva (St. Pe- 
tersburg) systems. The Government owns three-fifths of 



226 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY' 

all the railroads. The Trans-Siberian, which, with its west- 
ern connections, joins the Atlantic with the Pacific, is the 
greatest railroad enterprise ever undertaken. 

Seaports. — Fig. 121 shows the numerous seaports. It is 
to the commercial disadvantage of Russia that she controls 
no channel leading to the Atlantic except at Archangel 
and Alexandrovsk on the Arctic. The most important 
ports are on the Baltic and Black Seas. Nearly all the 
ports are blocked by ice in winter, but ice-breakers are 
lessening this obstruction. The Black Sea ports are the 
main outlet for the agricultural products of southern Rus- 
sia ; the Baltic ports command the foreign trade of the 
more densely peopled regions around St. Petersburg and 
the other flourishing Baltic cities. Odessa, a large manu- 
facturing city, is the leading port ; and the great trading 
and manufacturing center of St. Petersburg is second in 
importance. Since 1901 the transportation of freight be- 
tween Russian and Siberian ports in other than Russian 
vessels has been prohibited. 

Commerce. — Russia's trade relations with the countries 
«ast and west of it are very different. To the western 
countries it is an agricultural state, sending them its grain, 
flax, and hemp, and buying their manufactures; to the 
eastern countries it is a manufacturing state, buying their 
<jotton and other raw materials and sending them its manu- 
factures. Russia is thus a connecting link between Europe 
and Asia^ though by far the larger part of its trade is with 
Europe. The exports, over $1,500,000 a day, are more than 
half cereals and flour. Elax and hemp fibers, forest prod- 
ucts, linseed and grass-seed (oil grains), dairy produce, 
eggs, petroleum, and sugar are also important. The ex- 
ports of manufactures are sent to Asiatic Russia, Asia 
Minor, and China. 

The imports, over $1,000,000 a day, are largely materials 
for manufacture, such as cotton, wool, leather, metals, and 
chemicals; besides tea from China, machinery, coal, wine. 



RUSSIA IN EUROPE 227 

and textiles of the finer grades. The most business is done 
with Germany and Great Britain. Kussia buys much of 
our machinery and a good deal of our cotton, though the 
cotton-mills are supplying themselves more and more with 
fiber from Kussian Central Asia. 

We buy very little from Kussia. The reason is interest- 
ing, and it applies in the trade of many countries all over 
the world. When you look at the list of things Eussia has 
to sell you will see that we produce them ourselves in very 
large quantities. For the same reason Eussia's trade with 
her neighbors — Austria-Hungary and Eumania — is small ; 
the products of the three countries being much the same, 
they do not need one another's goods. 

Eussia, with many times the population of Belgium, does 
not have so large a foreign trade as that little state. One 
reason, as we have seen, is that the country seldom needs 
to buy food, purchases no manufactures that it can produce 
itself, and makes few goods that other parts of the world 
need to buy. Another reason is because most of the people 
are very poor. It is with nations as with individuals — they 
can not buy much unless they have means with which to 
pay for much. 



CHAPTEE XXIV 

ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 

Italy. — The kingdom is more densely populated than 
any other large state of Europe. Manufactures and mining 
being much less important than in the great industrial 
states, agriculture, the fisheries, and commerce support most 
of the population. As the farms require irrigation, which 
is expensive, the land is mainly in the hands of large owners, 
who lease it in small parcels to the peasantry ; rents are 
high, and the people get only a meager living from the soil. 
The masses are very poor, which accounts for the fact that 
300,000 to 500,000 leave their native land every year for 
our country and South America, where they strive with 
great industry to better their fortunes. 

Position and climate. — Italy is very favorably situated 
for commerce. Though the Alps, like a great wall, sepa- 
rate it from the northern lands, they are no barrier to its 
trade. When the Simplon Tunnel (Fig. 117) was completed, 
five lines of railroad connected Italy with the great na- 
tions of Europe. The kingdom offers the shortest route 
between those countries and the Orient; the profitable 
transit trade (page 200) is therefore a large source of rev- 
enue. As Italy has the sea on three sides, and is the center 
of the most important of inland seas, many of the people 
are sailors ; the coasting trade is very large, and most of 
the important towns are seaports (Fig. 122). 

The Po Eiver is navigable from Turin to the Adriatic 
(Fig. 123), the Arno from Florence, and the Tiber from 
Rome; the many other streams have no importance for 
228 







Fig. 122 —Genoa is the harbor nearest to Switzerlnnrl nnd sonthoapt Germanv via the 
St. Gotthard tunnel ; it therefore competes with :Marseilles for northern trade ; it 
is also the natural outlet of the Lombardv industrial district. The opening of the 
Suez Canal (1870) and of the Mont Cenis tunnel (1871) made a new era for Genoa, 
which has the lion's share of Italy's sea trade. Leghorn, the port of Florence, 
suffers from proximity to Genoa ; the wines of the north and Carrara marble are 
among its shipments. Piombino receives the iron ore of Elba island. Most of 
the trade of Civita Vecchia. the port of Rome, is coal and pig iron for the interior, 
rsaples, with 500.000 inhabitants, needs to import many articles for local consump- 
tion : many vessels in the Genoa trade call at Naples. At Brindisi overland 
freight and passengers take the sea route for the Orient. Venice is the outlet for 
the east half of the Lombardy plain ; here grain is stored in air-tight pits to await 
shipment ; its trade is only about one-fifth that of Genoa. Palermo is the largest 
city and the chief port of Sicily. Messina commands the 'rade across the strait 
between Sicily and the mainland. Catania. Licata, and Porto Empedocle (the 
harbor of Girgenti, which has the largest sulphur mines in the world) export sul- 
phur and citrus fruits. Marsala is a wine port for the famous vineyards around it. 
Milan is the largest commercial and industrial center of the kingdom. Most 
of the roads across the Alps converge upon the city. Turin is on the route to 
France via the Mont Cenis tunnel, and has very large trading and manufacturing 
interests. 

229 



230 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



commerce, but much for irrigation. The continental part 
of the kingdom (north of Genoa) is dry, but the large de- 
velopment of irrigation canals fed by the Po and its tribu- 
taries makes the farmer almost independent of rain. The 
peninsula has abundant rainfall, but most of it in the 
winter months, so that irrigation is needed the rest of the 
year. The climate is genial, but large districts are very 
unhealthful, malarial fevers prevailing near the marshes of 
the lower Po, the swampy lands of the Maremma, the Cam- 
pagna, and the Pontine marshes (Fig. 124). 



INDUSTRIES 
: OF 

NORTH ITALY 




Fig. 123. 



The Lomhardy Plain. — The northern, continental part 
of the kingdom (most of it comprising the rich Lombardy 
Plain) must be distinguished from the peninsula. Its 
population is more dense, agriculture is more flourishing, 
the inhabitants are better educated and more prosperous, 
and most of the manufacturing industries are centered 



ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 



231 



8WITZEBLAND IJO 



Most highly developed 
Agriculture 




Agricultural and Mineral Products 
aad Fisheries 



SOALE,-ini, 

SCALE OF MILES 



Fig. 124. 



here. The north of Italy, therefore, is more important, 
commercially, than the rest of the kingdom (Fig. 123). 

Vegetable products. — The north and the peninsula also 
differ greatly in their vegetable products. In the more 
temperate climate of the north the chief crops are rice and 
maize (with a surplus for export), wheat (falling below the 
home needs), flax, hemp (giving rise to the great cordage 



232 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



industry), and the mulberry, which makes north Italy the 
greatest producer of raw silk outside of China and Japan 
(Fig. 54). Large crops of wheat and other cereals are 
also raised in the south, but they are less important than 
southern fruits. The south of Italy and Sicily are the 
favored home of oranges and lemons (citrus fruits), which 
are export crops. Olive-oil, one of the most important 
products of all Mediterranean lands, is surpassed in the 
foreign trade only by raw silk. The grape flourishes all 
over Italy (page 62), making the kingdom, next to France, 
the greatest wine producer and exporter. Fig. 124 shows 
the districts producing the wines that are most esteemed 
in the foreign trade. As the forests have been recklessly 
destroyed, much lumber and timber must be imported. 
The chestnut is the most important tree, as thousands of 
the peasantry live almost wholly on boiled chestnuts. 

Animal products. — Domestic animals are less important 
than in any other country of Europe. The Italians eat 

very little meat, 
grains and vegeta- 
bles being the main- 
stay of life. The 
home-bred horses do 
not suffice for the 
needs of the army. 
Mules and donkeys 
are much more im- 
portant. The don- 
key as a beast 
of burden is con- 
spicuous in the 
small farming of all 
Mediterranean lands 
(Fig. 125). Many cattle graze on the rich meadows of 
the Lombardy Plain, and some of the cheeses of that 
region are famous. The sheep supply only half of the wool 




Fig. 125.— a donkey in Italy. 
Carrying garden truck to market. 



ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 233 

required by the woolen-mills. Thousands of goats among 
the mountains make goat- and kid-skins important exports. 

The silkworm, reared all over the kingdom, but chiefly 
in the north, is the source of Italy's largest exports, Euro- 
pean and American silk-mills deriving a great deal of their 
raw silk from the mulberry districts. Nearly 600,000 per- 
sons are engaged in silkworm culture. 

About 100,000 men are employed all around the coasts 
in the fisheries, the nature of which is indicated in Fig. 
124. They do not, however, supply the demand, and cod, 
herring, and other fish are imported. Observe the coral 
fisheries off Xaples, Sicily, and Sardinia, one of the unique 
industries of Italy. The coral of commerce, also obtained 
off the north coast of Africa, ranges in price, according to 
color, from $1 to over $400 an ounce, the most expensive 
being the finest rose-pink in large pieces. 

Mineral products.— Italj has no coal except lignite. 
Importing all her coal from Austria and England, the iron 
industry languishes in spite of the large supplies of ore 
that the islands of Elba and Sardinia afford. Lacking 
home fuel, Italy exports nearly all her metals, and depends 
upon other countries for all kinds of metal manufactures ; 
considerable steel, however, made at Genoa and elsewhere, 
is turned into rails, machinery, and ships. South Italy and 
Sicily supply the world with most of the sulphur consumed 
in the arts (page 121). Over 100,000 tons of Carrara 
marble are quarried every year (Fig. 126). 

Mamifacttires. — The manufacturing industries are em- 
barrassed by lack of coal, capital, and continuous water- 
power. The streams that turn many wheels for some 
ttionths are dry the rest of the year. But cheap labor and 
a very large population are not wanting and manufactures 
are growing, particularly in the north (Fig. 123). Silk weav- 
ing, the greatest industry, has its largest centers in Lom- 
bardy (Milan and Como), Piedmont, and Venetia, though 
it is carried on in most parts of the kingdom, Naples and 



234: 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Palermo being conspicuous for their silk goods. Silk is 
the only textile that meets the home demand. The coarser 
cotton cloths, woolens, and linens are made in large quan- 
tities in the north, but the only exports are lace and some 
cotton goods to South America and Turkey. Venetian 
glass (beads, etc.) are prized in the world's markets, and 
Milan cutlery, straw goods, and coral jewelry are also in 
demand ; but the world buys few other manufactures. 




Ftg. 126. — Caktjara tvtartsttc. 
Carrying the marWe blocks from the mines. 

Commerce.— The railroad system (Fig. 122), the excel- 
lent highways, and the coasting vessels provide good facil- 
ities for domestic communications. The larger part of the 
shipping which enters the ports is Italian. 

Most of the vessels in the foreign trade reach Italian 
ports heavy laden, but they depart with half cargoes or in 



ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 235 

ballast. This fact throws much light upon the nature of 
Italian commerce. The things that Italy needs to buy are 
largely heavy and bulky commodities, such as grain (the 
largest import), coal, lumber, iron, steel, and machinery ; 
besides wool, cotton, and general manufactures. Most of 
the things that Italy sells are very much lighter and less 
bulky in proportion to value, such as raw silk and silk 
goods (a third of the entire exports), olive-oil, wine, straw 
goods, coral manufactures ; besides southern fruits, eggs, 
and sulphur. It is not surprising, therefore, that though 
vessels leave Italy lightly laden, the exports are worth 
nearly as much as the imports. 

Every Avestern country that manufactures silk is very 
prominent in Italy's export trade, their purchases, besides 
silk, including olive-oil, sulphur, wine, and southern fruits 
as the chief items. !N'one except the silk-weaving nations 
buys much from the kingdom. 

England leads in the imports, supplying a great deal of 
coal, iron, textiles, and machinery. Eussia sends much 
wheat, and Germany manufactures. The United States 
sends cotton, tobacco, wheat, copper, alid farm machinery 
to a larger value than that of the Italian export staples 
which we purchase. 

Spain. — This kingdom, standing on a high plateau, en- 
joys the influences of a mild sea climate only where the 
Atlantic washes its northwest coast and along the Mediter- 
ranean. The interior is very cold in winter and hot in 
summer. As the rains along the Mediterranean usually 
fall after the growing season, and the rainfall in the inte- 
rior is only 8 to 12 inches a year, there could be very little 
agriculture if it were not for extensive irrigation works. 
The surface of the plateau is cut up by mountain-ranges 
and deep valleys, so that it is difficult to build railroads ; 
and good wagon roads scarcely exist. A large part of the 
peasantry can not read or write and are disinclined to 
labor. The natural and human conditions, therefore, are 



236 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



not favorable to commerce. The Spanish Government is 
now endeavoring to improve these conditions as far as pos- 
sible, so that the great resources of the country may have 
better development. 




Fig. 127. 

Vegetalle products. — More than half the people live on 
the farms and supply over half the exports. They are 
hampered by the fact that the nobility and the Church own 
most of the lands ; rent and taxes are very high, farm 
methods and implements are primitive, and the roads are 
so miserable that it is difficult to get produce to market. 
Irrigation has not been extended over much of the interior 
and vast regions are still uncultivated; the Government is 
now planning large irrigation works for portions of the 
dry table land. The best watered and cultivated area is 
along the Gulf of Valencia (Fig. 127), where three or four 



ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 237 

crops are raised a year. The wheat and rye of the north 
are sometimes exported, but it is often necessary to import 
them; the rice and maize of the south are usually raised 
in export quantities. 

Wine is the most important product and one of the large 
exports. Most vintages are poorly made, and sell at a pit- 
tance to the peasantry. Some of them, as the wines of 
Malaga and Alicante, and the sherry of Jerez, are famous 
and in large demand. Our country and England buy most 
of them. 

Southern fruits stand high in export importance. 
Oranges and lemons are large crops, and the olive grows 
nearly everywhere (Fig. 127). Olives from Seville, for 
table use, are a large export; also olive-oil, though its qual- 
ity is rather inferior. The cork-tree yields about 40,000 
tons of cork a year (page 104). 

Animal products. — Spain is poor in animals except 
sheep. Most of the cattle are raised on the moist pastures 
of the northwest, the only part of Spain where the dairy- 
ing industry is of any importance. The wild animals used 
in the cruel national sport of bull-fighting are reared in 
the southern mountains. Horse-raising is neglected, but 
highly prized mules and donkeys are bred with great care^ 
as these sure-footed animals are useful on the poor moun- 
tain paths. The sole riches of many of the mountain 
peasants are herds of goats, raised for their milk and 
skins. Sheep, feeding on the dry plains of the central 
plateau in summer, are driven to the milder regions of 
the south in winter. Coarse-wool breeds have largely re- 
placed the famous fine-wool merinos that originated in 
Spain. The sea fisheries are important, but Norway sends 
large imports. No animal product is very important in 
the exports. 

Mineral products. — Though Spain is richer in minerals 
than any other country of Europe, her people have done 
little to make them available. Observe in Fig. 127 the dis- 



238 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

fcribution of minerals among the northern and southern 
mountains. Foreign capital mines most of the metals. 
The rich iron ores of the north are sent chiefly to Ger- 
many and Great Britain to be turned into steel. British 
and German companies work the copper mines of the 
south, which are second in yield only to those of the 
United States. The Almaden quicksilver mines are the 
richest in the world. The Spaniards mine coal, but large 
quantities are imported from England even for railroads 
that run through the coal-fields. The Government reaps 
a large revenue by selling mining concessions to foreign- 
ers, otherwise the country benefits little by its mineral 
wealth. Spanish blast-furnaces produce only a small sup- 
ply of iron. 

Manufactures. — Barcelona and the surrounding regions 
are the largest center of manufactures; but the country 
does not supply its needs in any textile or metal branch 
or in paper and leather goods. Flour and olive-oil mills 
are numerous, and silver and gold wares, glass, china, 
and chocolate are important in Madrid and a few other 
cities. 

Commerce. — Spain nearly pays for the manufactures — 
coal, cotton, tobacco, lumber, and food — she buys with the 
wine, minerals, olive-oil, and fruits that she sells. France 
commands a third of the foreign trade, England being the 
next largest buyer and seller. The trade with this country 
is very small ; the total foreign commerce is only half that 
of Belgium, and a third that of the Netherlands. The most 
important ports are Barcelona and Cadiz for general com- 
merce, Valencia for fruit exports, Malaga for grapes, wines, 
and lead and zinc ores, and Santander and Bilbao for iron- 
ore shipments. 

Portugal. — The productions of this kingdom and the 
primitive methods of making them available are very much 
like those of Spain. Agriculture and the fisheries are the 
chief industries. Wine (one-third of the total foreign sales) 



ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL 239 

is the export staple. The best-known wine is port, which 
is made and shipped at Oporto. Cork, copper, fish, and 
southern fruits are also sold abroad. Colonial goods from 
the African and Asian colonies are the largest import ex- 
cepting grain. The foreign trade is only one-fourth as large 
as that of Spain. 



16 



CHAPTEE XXV 

THE BALKAN STATES AND ASIATIC TURKEY 

The Balkan peninsula. — This peninsula has been called 
a bridge between Asia and western Europe (Fig. 128). Two 
great trade routes, crossing this bridge, unite the eastern 
and western parts of the Old World. One of them is the 
Danube Eiver, connected by the Ludwig Canal with the 
Main (tributary of the Khine), and thus affording an un- 
broken waterway between the North and Black Seas. The 
other is the railroad system centering at Constantinople, 
with branches leading to ports on the Black and ^gean 
Seas, all converging at Belgrade or Budapest, and connected 
with all the commercial centers of the west. The Balkan 
states, now freed from the blighting rule of Turkey, are 
slowly advancing in education and prosperity; but the 
people are still very poor and their methods of work and 
business are primitive. Should you think that under such 
conditions the foreign trade would be very large ? 

Rumania. — The rich, warm soil of the wide plain, slo- 
ping to the Danube, which forms the larger part of this 
kingdom, makes it one of the three great granaries of Eu- 
rope. Three-fourths of the people are farmers, their grain- 
fields covering two-thirds of the plowed area. The chief 
crop is maize, the staple food of the country. The great 
export crop, sent in large quantities to western Europe, is 
wheat. Eice, barley, oats, rye, tobacco, and wine are also 
raised in excess of the home demand ; thus practically all 
the agricultural crops are export commodities, of which 
grain makes three-fourths of the shipments. Stock-raising 
240 




THE BALKAN STATES 



SCALE 1:12,000,000 
MILES 



50 100 

2b 



Fig. 128. 



241 



242 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

is very large in proportion to the population, but is not yet 
important in the foreign trade. While the mineral re- 
sources are large they are not utilized, except rock-salt and 
petroleum. 

Owing to lack of coal, capital, and skilled labor, no 
large industries have been established. There are many 
flour- and saw-mills, and coarse goods are manufactured 
in small shops or in the homes, but the finer manufac- 
tures are imported. Eailroads connect all the principal 
towns with Bucharest, the capital, which has rail com- 
munications with Austria and Eussia ; but the Danube is 
the main outlet for the grain which is collected at Galatz 
for shipment. The imports, mainly textiles, metal wares, 
and colonial goods, are brought in both by sea and rail, 
Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Great Britain being the 
chief sources of supply. Most of the Balkan states buy 
more commodities from Austria -Hungary than from any 
other country. 

Servia. — The Servians, in close touch with Austria-Hun- 
gary, are better educated than any other Balkan peoples. 
Servia is a part of the mountainous western half of the 
peninsula, which slopes to plains and lowlands in the eastern 
half. Large crops of maize and wheat grow in the fertile 
valleys, yielding a considerable surplus for export. Great 
numbers of hogs fatten in every valley on acorns and beech- 
nuts, hog products being the chief exports of the kingdom. 
Belgrade, the capital, splendidly situated for trade between 
Vienna and Budapest on one side and Constantinople and 
Salonica on the other, is the center of business and of the 
cotton, silk, carpet, and other industries. The manufac- 
tures, however, are primitive, the country depending upon 
foreign sources for most of its metal, textile and other sup- 
plies of manufactured goods except those that are made in 
the homes. Servia's commerce has long been controlled by 
Austria-Hungary, which buys five-sixths of the hogs, cattle, 
grain, dried plums, and skins, and supplies five-eighths of 



THE BALKAN STATES AND ASIATIC TURKEY 243 

the manufactures. Germany and Great Britain have most 
of the remaining trade. 

Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Bosnia. — The principality 
of Montenegro (Black Mountain) has no railroads or manu- 
factures and little agriculture. Nearly everything is im- 
ported except food. Live stock and their products are the 
only exports. The small trade is with Austria-Hungary 
and Great Britain. Bosnia and Herzegovina, dependencies 
of Austria-Hungary, have greatly improved their condition 
since they were freed from Turkish rule. The trade is 
with Austria-Hungary, the leading exports being oak timber, 
plums, and cattle. 

Bulgaria. — In Bulgaria and Eumania the peasant farm- 
ers are now the owners of their land — an encouraging fact 
that is helping the development of their countries. The 
fertile plains of the southern half of Bulgaria make it more 
prosperous than the mountainous northern portion of the 
principality. On these plains are wide areas of maize, 
wheat, tobacco, fruits, and wine ; here also is the famous 
Valley of Eoses (around Kazanlik), where attar is distilled 
from the petals of the damask rose — 1,000 pounds of leaves 
making a pound of oil — from which rose-water and other 
delicate perfumes are derived; the valley is the largest 
source of supply, though the oil is produced in Turkey, 
Persia, and other Eastern countries. Leather goods and 
woolen textiles and carpets are notable, though most of 
the manufactures are coarse in quality and are consumed 
wholly at home. Both the Danube and the railroad system 
are utilized in the foreign trade — grain, cattle, hides, and 
perfumeries, the leading exports, going to England, Turkey, 
Germany, Erance, and Belgium ; the imports, mainly tex- 
tiles, yarn, metal wares, and colonial goods come from the 
same countries. 

Greece. — This kingdom lacks many of the resources 
needed to make it a prosperous country. It has no coal, 
wood, water-power, or capital to develop large enterprises. 



244 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



*-•<?.?« IJ.iof Covin fh / 



CORINTH CANAL 

SCALE OF MILES 



The many excellent harbors foster the seafaring spirit, 
and much of the commerce of the eastern Mediterra- 
nean is carried by Greek sailors. The rainfall being 
chiefly in winter, prevents large agriculture, and the 
poor mule tracks and few railroads are very inadequate 
as internal trade routes. Traffic is mainly by coasting 
vessels; that important improvement, the Corinth Canal 
(Fig. 129), is a great convenience in the commerce of the 
country. 

Grain, currants, the vine, and olives are the staples of 
agriculture. The plains of Thessaly and others raise fine 

crops of grain, but two- 
thirds of the wheat 
consumed is imported 
from Eussia, Eumania, 
and Turkey. Most of 
the animals are sheep 
and goats, and so but- 
ter is a large import. 
The silk, grown in the 
south, is sent to France 
for manufacture. Most 
of the textiles and com- 
mon things the peasan- 
try use are supplied by the house industries and a few 
mills, but the better manufactures are imported. Athens 
is the industrial and commercial center. Piraeus is the 
chief port, and Patras is the port for currant shipments, 
which are half the exports. This fruit is not the cur- 
rant we have in our gardens, but a small dried grape used 
in cakes and puddings. We buy many of them. Wine, 
olives, tobacco, sponges, and lead and zinc ores are also im- 
portant exports. Grain, timber, textiles, metals, coal, colo- 
nial goods, and general manufactures are the leading im- 
ports. The total foreign trade of Greece in a year is about 
equal to six days of our foreign trade. 




Fig. 129.— The Isthmus of Corinth Canal, 3.7 
miles long, connects the Ionian and ^gean 
Seas, and gives a much smoother and shorter 
passage from Italy to Odessa than that around 
the south end of Greece. 



THE BALKAN STATES AND ASIATIC TURKEY 245 

European Turkey. — Turkey shows how bad government 
may stifle industry and enterprise and keep millions of 
people poor. Euinous taxation absorbs one-third of the 
crops; the roads are miserable, the standard of civilization 
is low. The result is that though the soil is fertile, and 
the people depend upon agriculture, there are more weeds 
than grass or grain on the rich plains of Turkey. Manu- 
factures are in the same backward condition. Turkey 
was once famous for certain kinds of silks, leather, and 
carpets, but it competes no longer with western manu- 
factures, which it buys in large quantities. Even most 
of the fezes worn by the men are made in Austria and 
other countries. The home industries supply many arti- 
cles made by expensive and antiquated processes, and 
there are a few silk and other factories. The results of the 
great war probably will introduce a brighter future. 

The Turks have not developed the commercial spirit, 
and their trade is chiefly in the hands of Armenians, Greek 
and Spanish Jews, and a few merchants from north Europe. 

The importance of Turkey in the foreign trade is as a 
market; for textiles, sugar, coffee, coal, petroleum, iron, 
luxuries, and other wares, which the Turks buy in large 
quantities, mainly from north Europe, but also to some ex- 
tent from the United States. These purchases are partly 
paid for with the grain, fruits, raw silk, perfumery, hides, and 
other articles that Turkey sells abroad. Constantinople 
has a magnificent harbor, and in other hands would become 
one of the greatest ports of the world. 

Asiatic Turkey. — This vast region is growing in impor- 
tance with the extension of railroads. Smyrna, the most 
important city of Asia Minor, is, next to Constantinople, 
the leading port of the Levant. The rich soil and other 
advantages of Asia Minor fit it for large development, but 
under the Turkish regime it is less productive than in the 
days of ancient Greece. Grain is a large crop. The chief 
exports of Asiatic Turkey, including Syria and Palestine, 



246 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

are cotton, opium, meerschaum (for pipes), rugs, carpets, 
and shawls from Smyrna, cereals, dates, and many articles 
of lesser importance. Hodeida, on the Eed Sea, exports the 
famous Mocha coffee. The imports are general European 
manufactures. Nearly all the foreign trade is in the hands 
of European and a few American merchants. 

The fact that communications in the Balkan States are 
greatly impeded by the wide-spread mountains and by rivers 
too shallow for navigation has helped to isolate the various 
peoples from one another and to increase their mutual dis- 
trust. This has promoted ignorance, political unrcvst and 
war among them, so that the people in most of the states 
have made little development or progress. Well-to-do folk 
among them have been afraid to invest the capital required 
for any extensive mining development. Eumania, alone, 
h^s greatly thrived. It was a fairly rich and prosperous 
land when the late war overwhelmed the country with mis- 
fortune. In all the other Balkan states there is also much 
diversity of race, religious creed and business interests; and 
they have, furthermore, been kept in a state of unrest by 
the uncertainty as to their future owing to the political dis- 
sensions of the European powers. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 

Mexico. — The republic of Mexico rises steeply from the 
marshy coasts to a high table-land (plateau) walled in by 
mountains. The hot coasts grow cotton, henequen, ma- 
hogany, and other tropical products. Above the hot re- 
gions, in " the temperate lands," maize, beans, and other 
food-plants and tobacco flourish. On the surface of the 
plateau, over 6,000 feet above the sea, are wide pasture- 
lands, fields of wheat and barley, apple orchards, and, in 
the deep valleys, cotton and other crops of the warmer re- 
gions. Most of the people live on the plateau, the central 
region of agriculture, stock-raising, and mining. As the 
mountain ranges ward off the moist winds, the rainfall is 
small, so that most agriculture is carried on by means of 
irrigation. The rivers are of no importance for naviga- 
tion, commerce depending mainly upon the railroads. 

Agriculture. — Large areas of good farm-lands are not 
yet under cultivation because the needed water from the 
mountains has not been brought to them. Agriculture is 
mainly important in the domestic trade, most of the prod- 
ucts being consumed at home (Fig. 130). As in many of the" 
Latin-American countries, maize and black beans (frijole) 
are the staple food of the people, and maize is also largely 
grown for horse feed. The home mills spin and weave all 
the cotton ; the finest of vanilla is exported, and tobacco, 
coffee, rubber, cacao, oranges, and lemons are coming grad- 
ually into the world's trade ; but the great article of agri- 
cultural export is henequen (sisal fiber), used for sacking, 

247 



248 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



cordage, and binder's twine (page 94). It comes from some 
species of the agave (the American aloe) ; the enormous 
exports to the United States are making Yucatan one of 
the most prosperous states of Mexico. Another species of 
the agave yields a juice from which pulque, the national 
beverage, is manufactured. 




Fig. 130.— Agriculture in Mexico. 



Mexico sells a great deal of mahogany, dyewoods, and 
other tropical timber to foreign countries ; but as many of 
the mountains have been denuded of their trees to supply 
timber for the mines, the country imports much lumber, 
mainly from our Pacific coast. 

Animals. — Many large cattle ranches are scattered over 
the northern and central parts of the country, and the ex- 
port of hides and live cattle to the United States is im- 
portant. The ranch owners are improving their long- 
horned cattle by the importation of our best beef animals. 
Milk and butter sell at high prices, and dairying is there- 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



249 



fore profitable near the towns. Millions of coarse-wool 
sheep are raised, but the home mills import much wool of 
finer grades. As in our country, the more prosperous 
Mexicans usually wear imported woolen cloths. The coast 
waters teem with fish, and there are beds of pearl-oysters 
in the Gulf of California that yield pearls and pearl shell 
(mother-of-pearl) ; but far larger supplies of these valued 
products are obtained from the Bahrein Islands in the Per- 
sian Gulf, and along some of the coasts of Australia, Cey- 
lon, the Sulu Archipelago (Philippines), and Venezuela. 
Some pearl-oysters are taken from a depth of 120 feet with 
the aid of the diving dress, but most of them are gathered 
from depths of 40 to 50 feet. 

Minercds. — Mexico is one of the richest mining coun- 
tries in the world, and metals are its largest resource. Ob- 




FiG. 131.— Mining in Mexico. 



serve the distribution of the mines in Fig. 131. The coun- 
try produces nearly as much silver as the United States, 
and they mine together more than half of the world's sup- 



250 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ply. Most of the gold is mined nearer the Pacific coast, 
but it is far inferior to silver in the quantity produced. 
The great resources of iron and coal are still scarcely util- 
ized. As the larger part of the total exports are the pre- 
cious metals, chiefly silver, many vessels coming to Mexico 
laden with bulky merchandise have to leave with light 
cargoes ; many steamers with Mexican silver, gold, and lead 
in their holds put into United States ports to complete 
their cargoes. 

Manufactures. — Though Mexico, like all the Latin- 
American countries, is poor in manufacturing industries, 
the progress of our neighbor in these enterprises in the past 
few years has been important. It is worth remembering 
that Mexico, Argentina, and Chile have forged ahead of all 
their sister republics in manufactures. In Mexico, espe- 
cially, the home products are increasing, and the importa- 
tion of manufactured goods is decreasing. More than 100 
cotton-mills spin and weave all the home supply and im- 
port much cotton from Texas. Most of the cotton cloths 
used in the country are made at home. Over twenty 
woolen-mills make coarse fabrics. The country manu- 
factures and refines its own cane-sugar. A number of 
other industries are important. Foreign manufactures, 
however, are still most prominent in the trade, and the 
country is specially dependent upon other lands for metal 
wares and machinery. 

Railroads. — Fig. 132 shows that our railroads are now 
connected with the Mexican system at several places, so 
that the City of Mexico may easily be reached from all 
parts of our country. This will be an advantage only when 
law and order supplant robbery and other crimes that stifie 
commerce. The Mexican roads reach all the leading towns 
and the commercial and mining centers, with the capital 
city, the center of the wholesale trade, as the focal point 
of the system. German merchants and bankers are promi- 
nent in the large business interests of the capital. 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



251 




RAIEKOADS IX MEXICO 



RaUroadi in Operatic. . 

Railrcadf incompleted —~~m~m^m 

SCALE, 1:32,000,000 

MILES 

6 TT^v 26" 360 460 5()0 



Fig. 13--2 — Tampico accommodates steamers drawing 24 feet; as it is a railroad 
center, much of the f oreig^n trade, particularly imports, passes through the city. 
Vera Cruz has the finest artificial harbor in North America ; most exports are 
shipped from this port, which has regular connections with New York, New 
Orleans. Havana, and St. Nazaire, France. Progreso is the port of the industrial 
and trading town of Merida ; most of the henequen of Yucatan is shipped from 
Sisal, northwest of Merida. On the Pacific coast, Guaymas, a thriving town with 
a good harbor, connected by rail with the Southern Pacific Railroad, exports 
metals and hides and imports mining supplies. Mazatlan, with a shallow harbor 
and no protection against the west wind, exports metals and wood and imports 
manufactures. San Bias, with a fair harbor, is the busiest port between Mazat- 
lan and Acapulco. Manzanillo is the port of the coffee, sugar, and cotton planta- 
tions on the plains of Colima. Acapulco, one of the finest harbors in the world, 
a coaling point for steamers, has as yet but little trade. Much of the commerce 
between Mexico and the United States passes through the railroad towns on the 
northern frontier, mainly Ciudad Juarez and Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, 



Commerce. — Before Spain was driven out of Mexico, 
about ninety years ago, the commerce of that rich region was 
closed to all the world except Spain. Her trade with the 
world at large has developed slowly amid political revolu- 
tions and other difficulties; and not until a wise and stable 
government ushers in an era of peace and progress will 
Mexico have an opportunity at last to develop her railroad 



252 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

system and build up manufactures. The country is only 
just beginning to reach the condition that will enable her 
to attain large prosperity. She still has many needs, and 
among them, more railroads and the improvement of her 
common roads, which are very poor; domestic trade is 
hampered by the lack of good highways. 

The metals, raw materials, and tropical products which 
the country sells to the rest of the world more than pay 
for the manufactures purchased abroad. Producing all her 
own food except some fish, oil, wine, and flour, Mexico uses 
her metals to buy many foreign goods, and has a large sur- 
plus to put in her pocket ; thus home capital is accumu- 
lating for fresh enterprises that will provide more labor 
for the people and increase prosperity. The United States 
naturally is Mexico's largest source of supplies. Half of 
the imports are purchased from us, England, France, and 
Germany supplying most of the remainder. We buy two- 
thirds or more of the exports. Capitalists in our country 
are largely interested in Mexican mining and other enter- 
prises. 

Central America. — The Central American republics had 
one commercial disadvantage which was remedied when the 
Panama Canal was built and railroads joined the oceans. 
Most of the people live near the Pacific, and most of the 
development fronts on that ocean. This was an impediment 
to trade, because the great commercial nations, all of which 
share in their products, front on the Atlantic. Now rail 
routes have solved the problem. 

Natural causes account for the fact that the west ports 
have the larger trade, and that much of the Atlantic slope 
is wild and unoccupied (Fig. 133). The moist trade-winds 
bring an enormous rainfall to the hot lowlands of the east, 
rain and heat combining to produce dense virgin forests, 
too unhealthful to be the home of white men and valuable 
only for their tropical forest products. In the west, on the 
other hand, mountain-ranges, with high plains among them. 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



253 



rise above the steaming lowlands ; the air is cooler, the 
rainfall is less ; the Pacific coast also has a comparatively 
moderate rainfall ; tlie conditions in the west therefore 
favor civilization. So it happens that, in the main though 
not entirely, the planting and other industries of Central 
America are scattered along the Pacific coast and on the 
plateaus among the western mountains. 



C.Grac ias a Dios 




^ CENTRAL AMERICA 



SCALE 1; 14,000,000 

MILES 

100 

' Ra iiroads 



Fig. 133. 

As the water-divide is near the Pacific, the Atlantic 
rivers have a longer and gentler course, and some of them, 
like the San Juan and Bluefields of Nicaragua, are navi- 
gable far inland. Eailroads have been built from some of 
the ports to the uplands, where coffee is grown ; but the 
common roads are very poor ; and the earthquakes that 



254: ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

sometimes inflict great damage, the poverty of the people, 
the small development of manufacturing, and the frequent 
political disturbances, are other commercial disadvantages. 

The republics compared. — Guatemala is the most pop- 
ulous and prosperous of the republics. It sells more to for- 
eign lands (chiefly coffee) and buys more from them than 
any other state. Honduras and Mcaragua have least de- 
velopment. Both countries are large, compared with the 
others, but the population is sparse, and in Honduras par- 
ticularly, labor is so scarce that about half the land fit for 
tillage or stock-raising is still a virgin waste. Nicaragua 
has the greatest extent of tropical forests, and civilization 
does not extend more than 100 miles inland from the 
Pacific. Salvador is the smallest country in America. 
Fronting wholly on the Pacific, practically all of it is avail- 
able for settlement, and it is therefore more densely popu- 
lated than any of the other republics. It has two products 
distinguishing it from the other countries — balsam of Peru, 
so-called because the Spaniards used to carry it to Peru for 
shipment to Spain, valued in medicine ; and indigo, for- 
merly the largest export, but now surpassed by coffee. 
Costa Eica is most noted for the distinctive excellence of its 
coffee, a large part of the crop being bought by the agents 
of foreign firms several months before it is harvested. 

Seaports. — Guatemala is more favored than the other 
republics, with Atlantic ports accessible to the agricultural 
regions, a great deal of the coffee passing out through Liv- 
ingston and Puerto Barrios as well as through the Pacific 
ports of San Jose and Champerico (roadsteads). Amapala, 
the Pr.cific port of Honduras, is one of the best natural 
harbors on the Pacific coast of America, and being near 
the mines in that republic, metals are among its largest 
exports. The little Atlantic ports of Trujillo, Ceiba, and 
Puerto Cortez are mainly important for the export of ba- 
nanas, hides, and tropical timber to the United States. 
Mahogany and hides are carried by mules, many days' 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



255 



journey to these ports. Most of the trade of Salvador is 
through the ports of La Libertad and Acajutla. Grey town 
and Bluefields are the Atlantic ports of Nicaragua, but 
Greytown is not accessible to large vessels. Banana ship- 
ments to our country p^ - .. 
are the main export of ? j 
Bluefields, the crop be- 
ing gathered from the 
plantations along the 
river for a considerable 
distance inland. Most 
of the Pacific trade 
passes through Corinto, 
which is connected by 
rail with the large inte- 
rior towns and planta- 
tions. Puerto Limon, 
the Atlantic port of 
Costa Eica, has the ad- 
vantage of being con- 
nected by rail with the 
great coffee district near 
the Pacific. The Pa- 
cific port, Punta Arenas, 
is thus diminished in 
importance. Observe 
the position of these 
ports on the map. 

Products. — Coffee 
is the great product of 
Central America. When 
the berry is ripe in December, all the men, women, and 
children available pick the crop. The berries are washed, 
then dried in the sun and taken to the factories, where they 
are prepared by modern machinery for market. Coffee is 
grown mostly on large plantations owned by well-to-do 
17 




FiGo 134.— Banana plant and fruit. 



256 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

planters; England, Germany, and France buy the greater 
part of the crop ; our purchases are also important. A large 
part of our banana supply comes from Central America 
(Fig. 134) ; also many tropical woods (including cedar 
for cigar boxes), besides rubber, sugar, rice, tobacco, and 
indigo. Hides are shipped from all the republics ; cattle 
chiefly from Guatemala. The rich mining resources are 
little developed, but Honduras exports some gold and sil- 
ver, and Salvador sells silver. 

Manufactures are still in their infancy, and are mainly 
confined to sugar, tobacco, and cotton goods in the towns 
and to the house industries which meet the demand for 
many cheap utensils and other articles. As all kinds of 
manufactured goods are needed, they are purchased in 
northwest Europe, and in this country with the products 
above mentioned, coffee far overshadowing all the other ex- 
ports. The purchases from other lands are only about two- 
thirds as much as the exports of home products. 

British Honduras, covered with forests, exports chiefly 
their products and tropical fruits. 



Considerable commerce between the Atlantic and the 
Pacific is carried by rail across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 
Mexico. The government of Mexico bore the entire cost of 
building the road and the terminal facilities at Coatza- 
coalcos, on the Gulf coast and at Salina Cruz on the Pacific 
side. The route was opened in 1907. There are thus two 
short steam routes across America between the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans, the other being the Panama Canal. 



CHAPTEK XXVII 

SOUTH AMERICA 
Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. 

Venezuela. — This republic has hot and temperate lands, 
according to elevation (Fig. 135). In the northwest and 
northeast are the hot lowlands, producing a large amount 
of cacao. South of the lowlands are high mountain- 
ranges, in whose fairly healthful valleys most of the people 
live and most of the agriculture is centered. South of the 
mountains are the great plains or llanos, on which millions 
of cattle graze. South of the Orinoco are highlands with 
dense forests, a region of forest products, and considerable 
gold, the only mineral of importance exported. 

A few short railroads among the mountains connect 
some of the towns with one another and the seaports. 
The principal seaports are La Guaira, the port of Caracas, 
the capital and main business center ; Puerto Cabello, the 
port of a large region, of which Valencia is the business 
center ; and Maracaibo, which the largest vessels can not 
reach. Steamship lines ply between these ports and the 
United States and Europe. The means of transportation 
south of the mountains are so poor that the cattle on the 
llanos are worth practically nothing except for hides and 
tallow. The Orinoco and its tributaries afford large navi- 
gation, but this region is little developed. 

Caracas and Valencia are surrounded by the largest 
coffee districts. Coffee, grown under shade-trees to protect 
it from the sun, is the main staple of wealth and the great- 

257 



258 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



est export. Nine-tenths of the crop, averaging 55,000 
tons, is shipped to Europe and the United States. Seven- 
eighths of the cacao, the second largest agricultural ex- 
port, is sold abroad. Sugar importations are prohibited by- 
law to protect the coarse brown sugar industry. Havana 
cigars are imported, as the home tobacco does not fill the 
demand. Many of the small, inferior cattle are driven to 
the mountain towns for beef ; hides are a large export. 




.^- VENEZUELA, 
THE GTJIAJf AS 



Fig. 135. 



The manufactures serve only the most common needs, 
such as soap, matches, straw goods, and cheap hats and 
shoes. No manufactures of importance are exported. 

Venezuela needs to import all her breadstuffs (chiefly 
wheat flour), cottons, woolens, kerosene, and many other 
articles of necessity or luxury. We send flour, lard, kero- 
sene, hardware, and cotton textiles, all of which pay heavy 
duties in Venezuela, while Venezuelan coffee, cacao, and 
hides are admitted free into this country. The goods 
which Venezuela buys from us head the list in value, Eng- 
land coming next with cottons, woolens, and general manu- 
factures, then Germany with cutlery and various wares, 



SOUTH AMERICA 259 

followed by France with silks and fancy goods, and Spain 
and Cuba with wines and tobacco. The coffee, cacao, 
hides, and gold exported more than pay for the imports. 

A^enezuela most needs internal peace, good transporta- 
tion, and large immigration to provide sufficient labor. 

The Guianas. — The three Guianas (British, Dutch, and 
French, Fig. 135), are mainly devoted to the growing and 
manufacture of cane-sugar and its by-products, rum and 
molasses. Cultivation is confined almost wholly to a nar- 
row coast strip, where most of the people live. Owing to 
the decline in the price of sugar the British and Dutch 
planters are replacing sugar-cane to some extent with cof- 
fee and cacao. An important amount of gold is mined in 
the interior, the British producing the larger part of it. 
Georgetown and New Amsterdam, the chief towns of Brit- 
ish Guiana, owe their importance to the palmy days of the 
sugar trade. Great Britain and the United States take 
nearly all of the exports of this colony — sugar, gold, rum, 
rubber, rice, and molasses. Great Britain supplies half and 
the United States one-fourth of the manufactures, food, 
and coal imported. Paramaribo is the commercial center 
of Dutch Guiana, nearly all of whose trade is with the 
Netherlands. French Guiana (port, Cayenne) is less de- 
veloped than the other colonies, and includes phosphates 
among its exports. Its trade is mainly confined to France. 

Brazil. — This republic, nearly as large as the United 
States, lies wholly in the tropical and subtropical zones, 
except the extreme southern states, which enjoy a temper- 
ate climate (Fig. 136). It has two great products, in which 
it surpasses all the rest of the world. One is rubber^ grow- 
ing in the hot, low, forest plain of the Amazon basin, which 
covers the northern half of the country ; the other is cof- 
fee, growing in the higher lands of the south, and par- 
ticularly in the region around Eio de Janeiro and Santos. 
The far inland part of the highlands is dry and sparsely 
inhabited, grass taking the place of forests. Most of the 



260 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 




Fig. 136.— Rio de Janeiro, the largest city, has a fine harbor, and is the political, 
commercial, and industrial center. Santos is the largest coffee-shipping port. 
Porto Alegre is the port of the German colonies in South Brazil. Pernambuco, 
one of the finest harbors of the land, exports chiefly sugar and coffee. Para ships 
nearly all the rubber. As no railroads connect these ports, the coast trafllc from 
one port to another is important. 

The Amazon affords larger interior navigation than any other river system in 
the world. Ocean vessels ascend the river to Iquitos in Peru. Observe the con- 
fluence of waterways at Manaos, 1,000 miles up the Amazon, that have made it a 
large trading center. It is the depot for all the rubber collected in the upper val- 
ley. River steamers ply between Cuyaba in Matto Grosso and Buenos Aires. 



people live in the coastal zone, a very fertile region, much 
of it covered with plantations. There are many good 
harbors, and all the most important towns are along the 
coast. 



SOUTH AMERICA 



261 



Yams, black beans, and rice supply the poorer classes 
with food ; but though wheat thrives in the south, where 
swine and cattle are also fattened, a great deal of food 
(wheat, flour, pork, lard, and other things) is imported. 
The reason is because most Brazilian planters prefer to 
raise export crops that are in great demand, and particu- 
larly coffee. The attention paid to coffee, cotton, and 
sugar has made Brazil, to some extent, a food importer. 

Coffee grows nearly everywhere along the coast as far 
north as the Amazon, but nearly the entire production is 
in the states o± Sao Paulo (about l,oUU,0UUjUOu jjitiuttoj an-^ 




Eio de Janeiro. Here are the heavy soil and the dry 
weather in harvest-time that the berry requires. All the 
plantations, some of them embracing 50,000 acres, were 
formed by clearing away the forests. The berries are 
picked from May till September, sorted into seven grades, 
and shipped in sacks each containing 132 pounds. In 
good years the crop amounts to over 13,000,000 sacks. 



262 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEO&RAPHY 

Fig. 137 shows why dry weather is needed during the 
preparation of the crop for market. Brazilian coffee is 
particularly rich in caffeine, to which it owes its stimulat- 
ing quality. About nine-tenths of it goes to the United 
States, Europe, South Africa, and the Plata Kiver coun- 
tries. 

Observe in Fig. 136 the more northern regions of cot- 
ton-growing, much of which is consumed in the home mills, 
though thousands of tons go to Europe (page 86). Cane- 
sugar plantations extend for 1,800 miles along the coast, but 
the industry has declined with the fall in sugar prices. 

Eubber is second only to coffee in the exports. The 
various rubber-trees, producing several qualities, are tapped, 
and the coagulated sap (crude rubber) is taken to collect- 
ing points on the river banks and carried by boats to Ma- 
naos. Para, and other markets. The quality known as Para 
brings a higher price than any other (page 103). Brazil- 
nuts, coming mostly from the Eio Negro, are among the 
other forest products. 

The domestic animals are mainly in the south, but 
mules are nearly everywhere. About 500,000 cattle are 
slaughtered every year for home consumption (fresh beef, 
jerked beef, also an export) ; but many cattle and much 
jerked beef are imported from La Plata states. Wool is 
exported. 

Brazil is very rich in minerals, but poor roads and 
scarcity of labor have prevented much development. A 
small supply of very fine diamonds comes from Minas 
Geraes. Would you expect that manufactures could have 
large development in this land where coal and iron are in 
small supply ? Brazil buys an enormous quantity of manu- 
factures. Still, some iron is smelted; protected by high 
duties, about 100 cotton-mills make coarse fabrics, and 
sawmills, brick-yards, tanneries, and workshops supply 
most of the primary necessities. 

More than 30 foreign mail steamers visit the various 



SOUTH AMERICA 263 

ports every month. Fifteen lines connect . Brazil with 
Europe and Xorth America. Coffee, rubber, tobacco, 
hides, and cacao lead the exports, which are somewhat 
larger than the imports. Most of the manufactures, coal, 
and articles of luxury come from Europe; most of the 
foodstuffs from the neighboring countries or the United 
States, we supplying many of the hog products, nearly 
half of the flour, and all of the kerosene. 

Argentina. — This large republic, healthful, and most of 
it temperate in climate, is the leading Latin- American state. 
Observe in Fig. 138 the wide pampas, nearly level, treeless 
plains, covered with nutritious grasses. They extend west- 
ward almost to the Cordilleras, north to the forests of Gran 
Chaco, and south far into Patagonia. The pampas are Ar- 
gentina's greatest source of wealth, for the 25,000,000 cattle 
and 89,000,000 sheep that feed on the rich grasses make the 
animal industries more important than any others. 

Argentina grows more wool than we produce — more 
than any other part of the world except the Continent of 
Europe and Australasia. Buenos Aires, the largest city 
of South America, is a great wool port ; when shearing- 
time comes there are scarcely cars enough to move the 
wool to that city. The crop is sent to Europe unwashed, 
and therefore it brings a lower price than the scoured, Aus- 
tralasian crop. France, Belgium, and Germany are the 
largest buyers. Great Britain buying more of the Austra- 
lasian and Cape of Good Hope wools. Along with the great 
wool trade has grown up a large business in frozen meat. 
Twenty years ago establishments were erected at Buenos 
Aires for freezing mutton and beef, so that they might be 
carried across the tropics to Europe. About 200,000 dressed 
sheep are now exported every month. There was enormous 
waste before refrigeration was introduced, for meat was 
then thrown away, the animals being raised only for wool, 
hides, and tallow. 

Frozen beef is a smaller branch of the industry, but 




Fig. 138. 



264 



SOUTH AMERICA 265 

many live cattle arc now sent to Europe in open pens on 
deck, as it is too hot across the tropics to keep them in 
closed pens. Both Argentina and Urugua}' make great quan- 
tities of jerked beef for home consumption and export. 

Observe in Fig, 138 the regions of wheat-raising. Ar- 
gentina has become one of the greatest wheat-producing and 
exporting countries. Italian and German colonists raise 
most of the wheat, maize, and other farm crops. The cereals 
are large exports to Europe, the wdieat, Iiowever, bringing 
a smaller price than ours because it is not so well graded 
and cleaned. Flax, grown in enormous quantities for the 
seed (linseed-oil) is, next to wheat, the largest farm export. 

The rich mineral resources along the Cordilleras are 
mainly a harvest for the future. Argentina has no coal, 
and England sends her large quantities for railroad and 
manufacturing purposes. 

Buenos Aires is the greatest manufacturing as well as 
commercial center. AYhile most of the manufactures of the 
country relate to the preparation of meat, hides, and agri- 
cultural products, such as flour and sugar, there are also 
many textile mills that supply nearly all the common 
woolens and cottons. Structural iron, such as beams for 
buildings, is made, and leather goods, hats, paper, and beer 
are large products. Manufacturing industries are aided by 
a high protective duty on foreign goods. 

While Buenos Aires controls two-thirds of the foreign 
trade, the smaller ocean steamers can ascend the La Plata 
to Eosario and load with wheat, meats, and hides for Europe. 
Buenos Aires is connected by steamships with many im- 
portant ports of Europe and America. The flat pampas 
being very favorable for railroad building, roads have been 
extended in all directions from Buenos Aires. The map 
shows the great transcontinental line, completed in 1910, 
which at last connects Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. 

The exports almost invariably exceed the imports. An- 
imal products are half of the exports ; wheat, maize, linseed. 



266 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

and timber are also large shipments. The better grades of 
cotton goods and wool and silk fabrics are the largest im- 
ports, followed by iron for the foundries, coal, hardware, 
and miscellaneous manufactures. The United States sends 
a large amount of hardware, machinery, and other goods. 

Should you think it easy for ships that carry our heavy 
freight to Argentina to get return cargoes ? We do not 
want the wheat, maize, and meat that the country produces. 
Our tariff on wool is so high that we do not buy so much 
wool from Argentina as formerly. We have use for more 
hides than we produce, and Argentina has plenty to sell ; 
so vessels take on hides and what general freight they 
can get, and often put into Brazil ports to make up a full 
cargo. 

Uruguay. — This small republic depends upon its pastoral 
industries and agriculture. The soil is fertile, the rainfall 
abundant, and the grassy plain that covers most of the 
country makes grazing the largest industry. Every year 
about 800,000 cattle are killed with little waste — horns and 
bone-ash being exported and refuse turned into fertilizers. 
A large part of the cattle are used in making jerked beef 
(page 67) ; about 150,000 beeves are slaughtered annually 
at Fray Bentos for the manufacture of meat extracts. Sheep 
are more important than cattle in the foreign trade, the 
wool shipments being the largest exports. Most of the 
cereals and other farm products are consumed at home, 
but wheat is sent to England and flour to Brazil, that 
country buying a little more flour from Argentina and 
Uruguay than from the United States. 

Much of the trade centering at the port of Montevideo 
is carried on Uruguay river-steamers, this important com- 
mercial center also being joined by rail with the chief towns 
of the interior. The exports of animal products, seven- 
eighths of the whole, are so large that the exports usually 
exceed the imports. Most of the manufactures are im- 
ported. 



SOUTH AMERICA 267 

Paraguay.— rThis republic has rich resources in timber, 
farm- and grass-hinds, but most of them are still dormant, 
because civil wars, sparsity of population, wretched interior 
communications, and lack of capital have prevented their 
development. The country has river but no rail connec- 
tions with the sea ; high freight rates on the river steam- 
boats are a commercial disadvantage. 

Paraguay produces a great deal of yerba mate, its 
largest export ; being cheaper than tea, the use of mate as 
a beverage is constantly growing in South American coun- 
tries (page 62). Hides are second in export importance ; 
they are the only animal product sent out of the country 
except live cattle to the jerked-beef establishments of the 
south. Oranges, pineapples, and tobacco, sent to Argentina, 
are the only important exports of the orchards and fields. 
All the wheat comes from Argentina ; but the poor, com- 
prising most of the population, can not afford to eat it. 

Cotton goods are the principal foreign purchases, as all 
the people dress in cottons. Wine and rice are next in 
order, the small imports, half of them coming from Eng- 
land, being paid for with mate, hides, timber, tobacco, and 
oranges. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

SOUTH AMERlCA-iContinued) 
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile ; also West Indies, Bermuda. 

Colombia. — More than half of Colombia is uninhabited 
(Fig. 139). Most of the people live in the healthful moun- 
tain highlands, while the coast lowlands are hot and mala- 
rious. The volume of commerce is small in comparison 
with the natural wealth ; trade is difficult from lack of good 
interior communications. The rivers are interrupted by 
rapids, though the Magdalena is navigable with difficulty 
for 600 miles. Much freight for the interior is specially 
packed for mule carriage on the narrow mountain paths. 
The Isthmus of Panama now forms the Eepublic of Panama. 
Its railroad, owned by foreigners, is little more than a means 
of transport for the commerce (duty free) of other nations; 
and freight charges by rail are so high that the Isthmian 
route is used chiefly for the more costly kinds of freight. 

Most farm products are raised for home consumption, 
agriculture yielding little but coffee and tobacco for export. 
It is cheaper to import flour for the coast towns than to 
carry the fine wheat of the mountain plains to the coast. 
Coffee, the staple export, is shipped by the Magdalena to 
Barranquilla, or eastward to Maracaibo, most of it going to 
Europe. Tobacco, grown in the interior, being very valu- 
able in proportion to weight, can bear the cost of transpor- 
tation, and thus is an export article; cacao, being raised 
near the sea, is easily sent to the ports. Thus the transpor- 
tation facilities largely determine the character of the ex- 




Fig. 139. 



270 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

ports. The llanos might easily become a great source of 
leather if there were good means of transport. Consider- 
able silver and gold figure in the exports, because such 
valuable commodities can bear high transport charges. 

Most of the manufactures are crude and made only for 
home use. Many foreign goods which Venezuela buys are 
not purchased by the people of Colombia, because it is so 
difficult to carry them into the interior. The United 
States buys about a fourth of the exports, and sells a fourth 
of the foodstuffs, textiles, and other things the country 
buys. 

Ecuador. — The vegetable products of all latitudes grow 
in Ecuador (page 6). The country produces many com- 
modities that the world buys, but few are sent to foreign 
markets. The roads are merely mule tracks. None of the 
wheat grown among the mountains was brought down to the 
coast towns after the completion of the railroad between 
Guayaquil and Quito. 

The regions east and north of the Gulf of Guayaquil 
are the best tilled and most fertile districts (Fig. 139), 
Ecuador is a very large source of cacao (page 62), which is 
the principal wealth of the country. Most of it is exported 
(over three-fourths of the total exports), though consider- 
able is consumed in the local chocolate factories. Hides 
are sent chiefly to the United States ; therfe are no other 
animal exports of importance. 

Panama hats, so called because they are forwarded to 
market through Panama, are made by, coast Indians from 
the fine straw toquilla. The best hats bring high prices. 
The straw is carefully selected and divided into the re- 
quired widths with the thumb-nail. The hats are plaited 
between midnight and 7 A. m., when the air is most humid. 
The work requires patience, fine sight, and special skill. 

Guayaquil, the best harbor on the west coast of South 
America, handles nearly all the foreign trade of Ecuador. 
One-third of the exports go to France, that country and 



SOUTH AMERICA 271 

Spain being the largest buyers of cacao. San Francisco 
and New York import large quantities of it both for choco- 
late and cocoa. The largest imports from Europe are cot- 
ton and woolen textiles, while we send flour, lard, kerosene, 
lumber, and machinery to the value of about one-fourth of 
the goods bought from foreign lands. 

Peru. — While the east slopes of the Cordilleras, reached 
by the trade-winds, are well watered and fertile, the long 
strip between the mountains and the sea is a desert, re- 
lieved only by ribbons of verdure marking the irrigated 
farms and plantations in the river valleys ; for the streams, 
fed by the melting snow of the Andes, flow west to the 
ocean, imparting life to their valleys, which are covered 
with sugar-cane, cotton- and tobacco-plantations (Fig. 139). 
Ages of aridity along this coast preserved the guano, for 
which European and American farmers have paid many 
millions of dollars. The supply of this fertilizer is now 
nearly exhausted. The barren heights of the Cordilleras 
have vast economic importance, both for the streams they 
send through the desert and for their large stores of min- 
eral wealth. East of the mountains are dense forests rich 
in rubber and cinchona (page 104). 

Sugar is usually the largest export. As there is no rain, 
grinding cane may be carried on nine months in the year. 
Five-sixths of the crop, produced at small cost, is exported,^ 
Great Britain, the United States, and Chile being the 
largest buyers. Cotton is grown in north Peru; metals, 
gums, and wool are also prominent. Breadstuffs are largely 
imported, as the cereals do not meet the demand. Coca- 
leaves, from which the powerful drug cocain is obtained, are 
sent to many countries. Cattle are bred for beef and hides, 
most of the latter being used in the home leather-work ; we 
buy about one-fourth of the surplus hides. The silver- and 
copper-mines, some of them reached by the railroads, yield 
large exports. 

In addition to the limited supply of home manufactures, 
18 



272 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOaHAPHY 

Peru requires large imports of cotton and woolen goods, 
iron wares, machinery, and groceries. Wheat is imported 
from Chile and the United States. We also sell to Peru 
lumber, railroad ties, machinery, and other articles, xibout 
half the exports of sugar, cotton, metals, and hides go to 
England. More than half of our large purchases are sugar, 
cotton, and goat-skins. Most of the foreign trade is through 
the port of Callao. 

Bolivia. — Metals are the largest exports of Bolivia (Fig. 
140). The country is a great producer of silver, tin, and 
copper. Deep valleys, some thousands of feet below the 
general level of the high plateau, permit the cultivation of 
foodstuffs, including fruits. Silver is the most abundant 
metal and the largest export. Tin associated with silver 
in many places is second in importance. Having no sea 
coast, Bolivia must send its exports through foreign lands. 
Many of the ores and metals are carried by mule- or llama- 
trains to railroads, whose freights are very high ; and when 
the shipments reach the sea they are still thousands of 
miles from the markets. Pew products less valuable than 
silver, tin, and copper could bear the high tax of such ex- 
pensive transportation. Agricultural products supply only 
home needs. A large amount of general manufactures are 
imported, England and Germany having most of the trade. 

Chile. — The northern half of Chile is practically a rain- 
less desert (Fig. 138). The middle zone, between Santiago 
and Valdivia, is a region of cattle, wheat and fruit. This 
favored region sends food to the barren north, where thou- 
sands of men are working in the nitrate-fields and mining- 
camps. The excessive rainfall south of Valdivia is favor- 
able to forest growth, and here lumbering and fishing are 
the chief occupations ; thus climate has a great influence 
upon the movement of trade from one part of Chile to 
another. 

The Chileans have paid much attention to education^ 
and are among the most progressive of the South Ameri- 



SOUTH AMERICA 



273 



can peoples. German?, Englisli, and otlier foreigners prom- 
inent in business, mining, and railroad enterprises, are help- 
ing to develop the country. 

The largest resource is nitrate of soda, obtained near 
the north coast (Fig. 138). It comprises three-fifths of 




Fig. 140.— Observe the two outlers for Bolivia's products by rail il) from Pnno to 
Mollendo through Peru, and (2) from Oriiro to Antofagasta through Chile ; the 
third outlet is by pack trail to Jujuy, connectincr there with the Argentine rail- 
roads. Mining is confined to the mountainous part of the country. Indians carry 
great quantities of salt to the mining centers for the reduction of ores. The 
Huancliaca silver mines, the richest in Bolivia, supplied the money to build the 
costly railroad to Antofagasta. La Paz, the capital, is a busy commercial center. 
North of it are fertile vallej's supplying tropical products. Still farther north is 
the forest and rubber region of the Beni River in the Amazon basin. 

the total exports, over 1,500,000 tons a year being sold in 
northwest Europe, where it is highly prized as a fertilizer. 
About one-tenth of the output is sold in this country. 
The nitrate trade has an important effect on the business 
of Valparaiso, the most important port on the Pacific coast 



274 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

of South America. Valparaiso receives nine-tenths of the 
Chilean imports, but sends out only a third of the exports. 
The reason for this is that nitrate, the largest shipment, is 
sent to market through the so-called nitrate ports near the 
mines that yield the mineral. 

Copper is the largest metal export, followed by silver 
and gold. The mining industries are mainly in the north, 
except coal of rather inferior quality, which is found in 
large quantities along the southern coast. 

Wheat is the leading product of the busy agricultural 
region, and considerable quantities are sold to Peru and 
Ecuador. All the cereals of the temperate zone are raised 
in the rich central plain, besides tobacco and fruits. The 
forests afford excellent building and other timber, two 
native woods and Oregon pine supplying the demand for 
lumber. The large number of domestic animals is impor- 
tant mainly in the home trade. 

Manufactures have greater development than in any 
other South American country. Iron-mills, sugar refiner- 
ies, wagon-works, tanneries, and breweries are among the 
industries. Chile even makes steam-boilers, locomotives, 
and railroad cars. 

Great Britain controls half of the foreign trade, France, 
Germany, and the United States dividing most of the re* 
mainder. There are regular steamship communications 
with Valparaiso, both by way of Panama and the Magellan 
Straits. The largest imports are textiles, sugar, coal, iron, 
and tea. The largest exports are nitrate, copper, silver, 
wheat, iodine, and sole leather. The exports are nearly 
one-third larger than the imports. 

The West Indies.— The nearest and best market for the 
sugar, tobacco, cacao, and fruits, which are the chief prod- 
ucts of the West Indies, is the United States ; our country 
is also the nearest and best source of supply for the flour 
and provisions they must import. Their commercial in- 
terests, therefore, are closely identified with the United 



SOUTH AMERICA 275 

States, though they are all politically attached to Euro- 
pean countries, excepting Porto Eico (pages 146-148), Cuba 
(a republic, 1902), and the negro republics Santo Domingo 
and Haiti. The wealth of the West Indies is mainly in 
agricultural products, the animal and mineral resources 
being comparatively poor. The greatest commercial dis- 
advantage are the hurricanes, usually in the fall months, 
which sometimes destroy much property. Active volcanoes 
on some of the islands are occasionally the cause of great 
destruction. 

Cuba. — This is the largest fertile island in America. 
Its climate, as throughout the West Indies, is tropical, but 
the favorable effects of the trade-winds and sea make it 
-jomparatively healthful. It has the same products as India 
or Java, and is a better home for the white race than those 
countries. The population is about equally divided be- 
tween native whites of Spanish origin and negroes or mixed 
races. Most of the labor in the tobacco-fields is white, 
while that in the sugar-cane fields is black. 

The most important product is sugar, which employs 
more hands and machinery than any other industry (Fig. 
141). The soil is so fertile that seven crops of cane are 
grown with one planting. All inventions for improving and 
cheapening the product are utilized, with the result that no 
raw cane-sugar is better and cheaper than that of Cuba. It 
is Cuba's great advantage that her cane-fields are near the 
United States, which is the largest cane-sugar market in the 
world. Observe, in Fig. 142, the regions south and east of 
Matanzas, where most of the cane is grown. 

Sugar has suffered from the great decline in the price 
of this commodity; but Cuban tobacco is a staple crop, 
because its success depends solely upon the amount of the 
harvest. It is not affected by competition, as sugar is, be- 
cause Cuban tobacco, particularly the varieties grown in 
the river valleys and on the southern mountain slopes of 
the Vuelta Abajo region in the west, has a distinctive 



276 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



aroma that establishes a demand, and places it in a class 
by itself. Eaising only one-seventh as much tobacco as 




the United States grows, Cuba can not supply the demand, 
and considerable tobacco is imported from Porto Rico and 
elsewhere for her manufactures. Much Cuban leaf is sent 



SOUTH AMERICA 



277 



to Key West and 
other towns of the 
United States to 
be made into ci- 
gars. 

The other agri- 
cultural crops are 
of small commer- 
cial importance ; 
nor are the miner- 
als of much value 
as yet, though 
manganese and 
prime iron ore 
are shipped to the 
United States and 
Europe. 

Eoads are very 
poor. The jour- 
ney from Havana 
to Santiago has 
always been made 
bv sea, but a 
railroad between 
those cities has 
at last been 
opened. Devel- 
opment has been 
retarded by infe- 
rior inland trans- 
portation. 

Havana, the 
only large city of 
the West Indies, 
with one of the 
finest harbors in 




278 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL aEOGRAPHY 

America, handles a large part of the sea-trade, and has 
regular steam communications with our country and Eu- 
rope. A number of ports, as Matanzas and Santiago, are 
secondary centers of trade, handling the commerce imme- 
diately tributary to them. Honey, wax, hides, and rum 
also are sold abroad in considerable quantities. As Cuba 
raises no cereals, she buys flour and rice ; producing no 
coal, a great deal is imported ; as domestic beef is not 
cured, but eaten fresh, jerked beef from South America 
and our hog products and fish are large imports. Textiles, 
kerosene, and lumber are among the other purchases. We 
not only buy most of the exports, but also supply most of 
the foodstuffs that are Cuba's main imports. 

The Negro Republics. — Coffee is the chief product of 
Haiti, two-thirds of it going to France. Logwood and 
cacao are also important sales to Europe. We buy little 
from Haiti, but supply more than half the imports, mon- 
opolizing the trade in breadstuffs, kerosene, and coarse 
cotton goods. I^early all the sugar, tobacco, and cacao of 
Santo Domingo come to our country, which also supplies 
more than half the imports. 

The British West Indies. — Manufactures in the British 
West Indies are restricted to those branches connected 
with planting, such as the manufacture of sugar, rum, and 
molasses. The Bahamas have a mild and agreeable cli- 
mate, which makes K"assau a winter health resort. Four- 
fifths of the trade is with the United States. The main 
support of the islands is collecting and shipping sponges, 
the fruit trade being the next largest source of income. 
Nearly half of the exports of Jamaica are fruit, chiefly 
bananas sent to this country. Barbados is the most im- 
portant of the minor British possessions, and the largest 
sugar producer (Fig. 143). All these colonies are buyers of 
foodstuffs and manufactures, a great deal of their supplies 
coming from the United States. Trinidad (Fig. 135) is 
the most notable source of asphalt, used for street pave- 



SOUTH AMERICA 



279 



ments, roofing materials, and other purposes. The pitch 
is broken up for shipment into pieces weighing 20 to 30 
pounds, and is dumped into the holds of vessels that bring 
about 100,000 tons a year to this country. 



^^& 


^l^SiMliE 


» 
^ 


i- -^ir 5*. i^ 




1 


^-J^^j?^?'' 


i^. 


f 
I 

^ 

\ 

f-^ 

..^^' 


%ftM:^ 


>N ^'; ii 



Fig. 143.— Ctttttno sttoak-cane. 
The workman has cut off the leaves, and the stalk is now ready to be ground. 

Bermuda. — The sole industry of this group of coral is- 
lands is agriculture. Three-fifths of its exports are onions, 
one-fifth potatoes, and most of the remainder lily bulbs, 
the United States taking practically everything that is 
shipped. Bermuda's advantage is that her onion and 
potato exports reach, our markets before our own crops 
mature. Lily bulbs are shipped to New York, where they 
are sold to the hothouse trade to be planted under glass 
for the Easter market. As Bermuda has no manufactures 
and few animals, it needs many foodstuffs, textiles, and 
hardware. Much of the money it spends in our country 
and England for these supplies comes back to the islands 
from the tourists who go to Bermuda to enjoy the genial 
winter climate. 



CHAPTEE XXIX 

JAPAN AND CHINA 

Japan. — Japan is similar to Great Britain and Ireland 
in size and population. Fig. 144 shows the four largest 
islands, which are the home of nearly all the inhabitants. 
It is a very mountainous country, with valleys between the 
ranges and wide, low plains along the coasts. These lower 
lands teem with industry, for nearly all the people live on 
them. Education is wide-spread among the Japanese, who 
are the most advanced people of Asia. 

Vegetable products. — All the soil that can be tilled is 
utilized, even some mountains being cultivated to their 
tops. The largest crop and the staple food is a superior 
quality of rice, which is grown everywhere in the lowlands. 
As Japanese rice is preferred in some markets to any other, 
a large quantity is exported, and cheaper Asian rice is 
bought to meet the home demand. Wheat and other 
cereals are grown With success, but much wheat and flour 
is imported. 

Tea is most important in trade. " Tea gardens and plan- 
tations are scattered over large areas (Fig. 144). Green 
tea, the favorite kind in the United States, is the main 
product, the finest qualities being packed in jars to retain 
the aroma. Three-fourths of the exports are sent to the 
United States. Cotton is grown in the south, but it is 
very short staple, and supplies only a small part of the 
fiber required. As Japan makes most of its cotton fabrics, 
the imports of raw cotton are worth about four times as 
much as the cotton cloth imported. India sends half of 
280 



JAPAN AND CHINA 



281 



the raw cotton, while a fourth of 
it comes from our Southern States. 
Animal products. — There are 
no donkeys, sheep, goats, or geese 
in Japan. The Japanese seldom 
eat meat, and cattle are raised 
only for the plow and carrying 
purposes. Japan has very little 
land for pasture because it is 
needed for food crops. The 
most important animal re- 
source is the Japanese 




Raw Silk Culture 



Fig. 144.— Twentv-two new ports were opened to foreign commerce in 1899. Yoko- 
hacla. which h?s a spacious harbor, transacts more than half the external trade 
of the country. It is favored by the proximity of the greatest silk-growing dis- 
trict and of Tokio, the capital and most populous city in the empire, which has a 
poor harbor. Kobe is the second port in importance, one of the centers of the tea 
trade, and other commerce of central Japan. Near it are Osaka, the largest man- 
ufacturing city of Japan, excelling chiefly in cotton-spinning, and the ancient 
city of Hiogo. Kioto, noted for its distinctive Japanese industries, sends a great 
deal of tea and raw silk to Kobe for shipment. Nagasaki, with its shipyards, has 
the advantage of a neighboring coal-field. 



silkworm. Observe the distribution of raw silk culture in 
Fig. 144. Three-fifths of the raw silk comes from the area 



28^ ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

west of Tokio, and one - fifth from tlie northern area. 
These districts produce the best quality, their strong, firm 
fiber being particularly desirable in the manufacture of 
ribbons and laces. The output of raw silk is second in 
quantity only to that of China. About half the silk is re- 
tained for the manufacture of the characteristic fabrics 
worn by the people of the country and exported in large 
quantities. Many plain Japanese silks are brought to 
this country and printed here before being placed on the 
market. 

Fish is a large article of diet, the Japanese fisheries 
being among the most important in the world. A great 
deal of fish is exported to China and other countries. 

Mineral products. — The mineral wealth is not very 
great, and it is only within recent years that mining has 
been energetically pushed. Coal is mined in Yezo and 
Kiusiu, considerable being exported to Shanghai. The 
largest copper mines in Asia are at Ashio, copper being the 
only metal exported. The iron product falls short of the 
home demand, so that iron and steel wares are large im- 
ports. The famous earthen and porcelain wares of Japan, 
which have so wide a sale in foreign lands, are made from 
kaolin of superior quality. 

Manufactures. — The Japanese desire to make their own 
commodities. They have been quick to realize the advan- 
tages of western methods and processes of manufacturing, 
and are making many imitations of European and Ameri- 
can articles which were not even known in their country 
fifty years ago. There seems, however, to be no prospect 
that they will seriously compete with western manufactures, 
for the reason that many of their goods do not compare well 
in quality with those made in America and Europe. 

Commerce. — The internal trade carried on both on land 
and sea is very large. It is favored by fine highways, 3,000 
miles of railroad, and telegraph and postal services extend- 
ing to all parts of the country. The Japanese own a 



JAPAN AND CHINA 283 

large part of the merchant marine connecting their coun- 
try with other lands ; they have their own regular steam- 
ship-lines to our Pacific coast, Australia, Shanghai, Korea, 
Vladivostok, and Bombay. 

The foreign trade has increased fivefold in thirty years. 
The raw silk and tea sent to the United States make this 
country the chief customer of Japan. Eaw silk is the 
leading export, and France and the United States are the 
largest buyers. Other Asiatic countries buy large quanti- 
ties of Japan's cotton goods. Most of the imported tex- 
tiles, machinery, and iron goods come from Great Britain 
and Germany. Great Britain buys from Japan only one- 
fifth as much as the United States purchases, but her sales 
to that country exceed the value of the kerosene, sole 
leather, tobacco, lumber, and other articles we sell to 
Japan. 

The island of Formosa, now a Japanese possession, 
sends us a large amount of Oolong tea and other varieties, 
which are regarded by many as the finest exported. The 
camphor forests yield 6,000,000 pounds of camphor a year, 
Formosa controlling the world's trade in that commodity. 

China. — China is the largest agricultural nation. The 
surface and climate of China are favorable for large crops. 
The enormous population requires that all tillable lands be 
cultivated like gardens, so that the greatest possible quan- 
tity of food may be produced. It is forbidden by law to 
export rice from the empire, because China can not grow all 
the rice it needs. 

The climate is somewhat similar to that of the eastern 
part of the United States ; many of the trees and other 
forms of vegetation are identical in the two countries. 
While rice is the great food staple, a large amount of wheat 
and other products of the temperate zone are raised. 

Agriculture. — China's consumption of food taxes her 
producing capacity so severely that a failure of the har- 
vest in any large area causes the death of many thousands 



284 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

of people. The home food produced is, therefore, not im- 
portant in international trade. The chief staple of foreign 
commerce is raw silk, one of the great sources of China's 
wealth. N'early all provinces produce silk, but nine-tenths 
of the output comes from the plains of the Yangtse Eiver 
and the region west of Canton (Fig. 145). The yearly 
product amounts to over 30,000,000 pounds, fully half or 
more being exported. China produces about half the raw 
silk of the world. The exports are sent to Shanghai and 
Canton to be shipped to the United States and Europe. 
As the prosperous classes in China wear a great deal of 
silk, the cloths made of this fiber on hand looms in the 
homes of the operatives, or in a few mills near Shanghai 
and Canton using western machinery, are enormous in 
quantity. The Chinese still make silk goods and em- 
broideries that the Western world has not been able to re- 
produce either in texture or color. 

Tea is second in importance as an export staple. It is 
the daily beverage of all the Chinese ; the exports are 
worth about half as much as the silk exports. Russia and 
the United States are the largest purchasers. The trade 
has declined in recent years on account of the competition 
of the tea plantations of India and Ceylon, whose black 
teas supply Great Britain and the British colonies with 
most of their imports. Tea-growing in China is a garden 
culture and a hand industry, while the plantations of India 
and Ceylon are sometimes thousands of acres in extent, 
permitting the use of machinery in tea-curing, which is a 
great advantage. 

China produces one of the large crops of cotton, and 
consumes all of it. Every farmer in the cotton areas, 
which are most extensive along the lower Yangtse (Fig. 
145), has a patch of cotton, the women of the family spin 
and weave it and sell the surplus cloth to their neighbors. 
Enormous quantities of yarn and cloth, however, are im- 
ported, the home supply being inadequate, as the poorer 



JAPAN AND CHINA 



285 



people wear nothing but cotton and China grass even in 
the coldest winter weather. Cotton cloths are the largest 




CHINA s E J 



CHIEF PRODUCTS OF CHINA ^ Mercury 

I SCALS OF MILES , ^ Sult 

♦ Silver 

D Tin 

% Lead 



100 200 300 400 

Coal m Iron 

Copper «. Lime 

I 



Longitude 



East 



110 



Fig. 145. 



import into the country, the United States supplying a 
great part of the north China trade, while England dis- 



286 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

tributes its cotton goods through Hongkong over south 
China. 

The empire imports a considerable amount of lumber, 
as the forests have been cut down to increase the tilled 
lands. The wax-tree of China is a variety of oak, whose 
wax, deposited by insects, serves all the purposes of bees- 
wax, the product being worth over 11,000,000 a year. 

As the Chinese eat little meat, the raising of domestic 
animals, excepting poultry, is not very important. Eggs 
are a large export to Japan. Fish is a staple article of 
food, the sea and river fisheries being among the great in- 
dustries. 

Mineral resources. — The mineral wealth is very large, 
but mostly undeveloped. It is believed that the coal- 
fields are the most extensive in the world, but the cost 
of transport overland is so high that English coal is sold 
more cheaply than Chinese in the seaports. Iron of excel- 
lent quality is found closely associated with coal in some 
areas, but the manufacture of iron by modern methods has 
scarcely begun. The country is rich in superior China 
clays, which are the basis of the renowned porcelain in- 
dustries at Kungchow and other places. 

Manufactures. — Chinese manufactured goods are hon- 
estly made for hard service, and are the best industrial 
products of the Orient, though judged by western stand- 
ards they are inferior. The Chinese employ little or no 
machinery, and do not understand the advantages of the 
subdivision of labor, each product being the work of a 
single artisan ; but they make nearly everything that the 
hundreds of millions of people in the empire use. They 
particularly excel in the manufacture of bamboo paper 
exported to Europe and America, carved, lacquered, and 
gilt ware, porcelains, and silk stuffs. 

Most firecrackers are made in the homes of persons who 
sell them. The cheapest straw paper and powder are used, 
with better paper for the wrappers. After forming the 



JAPAN AND CHINA 



28; 



paper cylinders they are tied in bunches of 200 or 300, 
clay being spread over one end and forced inside each 
cracker with a punch. The powder is then poured in at 
the other end, the Japanese paper fuse is inserted, and the 
edge of the paper is turned in with an awl. Forty per- 
sons, each earning 5 to 7 cents a day, can make about 
100,000 crackers a day. 

Commerce. — The average cost of transportation in most 
of China is two or three times as much as in countries pro- 




Ftg. 146.— a view in Canton Harbor. 



vided with railroads. The common roads, or paths, are 
very poor; thousands of men trundling wheelbarrows do 
the work of beasts of burden. Only the Yangtse river 
system is of first-class importance for navigation, though 
lesser streams are utilized to a large extent by small boats. 
A network of canals covers the country, but many of them 
19 



288 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

are in poor repair. Transportation adds much to the cost 
of commodities, and most of the export articles originate 
near the sea or the Yangtse and. its larger tributaries. Eail- 
roads are now rapidly developing. One of them connects 
Peking with Hankau and is under construction to Canton. 

Great Britain and her colonies control more than half 
of the Chinese trade. The British trade, however, is de- 
clining, owing to the smaller purchases of Chinese tea and 
the growing sale of our cotton goods in north China. Cot- 
ton cloth, opium,* petroleum, hardware, and sugar are the 
largest imports. Eaw and manufactured silk, tea, hides, 
paper, and chinaware are the most important exports. We 
sell to China mainly cotton goods, petroleum, flour, and 
lumber, and buy from her tea, raw silk, and a few other 
articles. 

Manchuria is the most valuable part of the empire out- 
side of China proper, and one of the best Oriental custo- 
mers for our cottons and other goods. Wool is the chief 
product of Mongolia. Eastern Turkestan and Tibet, also 
parts of the Chinese Empire, have little importance in for- 
eign trade. 

Hongkong is the most important foreign possession in 
China. The port of Victoria on this little island, acquired 
by England in 1841, is open free to the commerce of all 
nations, and is a collecting and distributing point for the 
merchandise of the Orient and the Occident. Enormous 
quantities of commodities from Asia and its islands are 
taken to Hongkong to be shipped to many countries, which 
in turn send their goods to Hongkong to be distributed to 
various Asiatic ports. Thus Hongkong is a great receiving 
and forwarding station for south China, as Shanghai is for 
east and north China. 

* The importation of opium is now prohibited, but much is still 
smuggled into the country. 



CHAPTER XXX 

INDIA-CEYLON-RUSSIAN ASIA-THE LESSER COUNTRIES 

OF ASIA 

India. — India is isolated from the rest of Asia by great 
mountain ranges. It is reached easily only by sea. The 
ports, therefore, are the gateways into the country (Fig. 147)o 
The rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, and Irawadi, which 
are all in the north or continental part of the country, form 
important trade routes. Eailroads, the great highways of 
the peninsula, connect all important points of the interior 
with the leading ports, so that products have comparatively 
easy access to the sea. 

At the foot of the Himalayas, the great wall along the 
northern frontier, extends a low fertile plain, east and 
west, across the country. Here the population is more 
dense than elsewhere, except along the narrow coast strip. 
South of the plains are highlands which cover the penin- 
sula. The soil both of plain and highland is rich, and as a 
rule there is sufficient water for crops ; but irrigation is 
needed throughout India not only where rainfall is deficient,, 
as on the wide, wheat-growing plain of the Indus, but also in 
districts where summer rains are ample but winter rains 
are light ; for crops, growing the year round in this very 
warm country, need water in every month. 

Vegetable products. — Mne-tenths of the 294,000,000 in- 
habitants till the soil. In no other part of the world is 
vegetable food so important, because three-fourths of the in- 
habitants are forbidden by their religion to eat meat. Ce- 
reals^ vegetables, fish, and milk are their food resources. 

289 



290 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



1' 

V 

■ae 

^> D 


shaw^i|TlM[' 

1 N D 1 
E S E R 


! 

i 


111' ilnllC^"^^'^^^ 


' ^ INDIA 

Areas of Wheat, Rice 
^ and Millet culture. 

1 ^ SCALE, 1: 32,300,000 
^. , \. MILES 


X uo ^ y. Q joQ 200 300 400 500 „„ 


,\ ^^-.^______- 


-~_^~~->'^ \ 




= -^^^ 




iWi------ - »^ 


^^J 


-26 

o 


Bombay ^^ 
^ Call 




llW « 


^^s^ 




||1 -X Vutta^li'^^ 


^ 






Wheat. 
Rice. 




^^^^^"^"^ BAY 


^^^^^^^=^1 

^ 


^^Masulipatam 

[ B E N G 
^Madras 

llllllllllll PrccJomznaiing 


Tie 




4 


iii'i^^ 


Millet, 
t. 



Fig. 147.— The important ports, though few in number, are well distributed to meet 
the needs of the country. Calcutta, the largest city in the British Empire except 
London, is the center of business in Bengal. Bombay is the center of commer- 
cial relations with Europe, America, and the far East, its "Western trade passing 
through the Suez Canal, the Oriental traffic going by way of Singapore. Its har- 
bor, protected by islands, being the best in India, it commands nearly half of the 
exterior trade, with wheat and cotton as its largest exports. Its proximity to the 
cotton fields makes it the largest center of cotton manufactures. Madras handles 
nearly all the commerce of the southwest. Karachi is the wheat port of the Pun- 
Jab. 

The farmers are very poor, because the land is so mi- 
nutely subdivided that the ground tilled by each family 
barely suffices for a meager subsistence. Each farmer, hav- 



INDIA 291 

ing little to sell, can buy little. The total foreign trade is 
very large, but it is less than $3 a year for each man, 
woman, and child in India, while Great Britain spends 
eighteen times as much per capita for its chief imports 
alone. 

Eice and millet are the food staple of the larger part of 
the people. Eice, thriving best on hot lowlands where the 
fields may be flooded, is most cultivated along the rivers 
and on the coasts. Millet is a great crop on the drier up- 
lands of the peninsula and in parts of the Indus basin ; 
thus rice is the chief cereal consumed along the coasts and 
in the valleys, while more millet than rice is eaten in the 
interior. Xo millet and very little rice are exported, for 
the people need all that is raised ; the great rice exports 
are from the province of Burma, on the east side of the 
Bay of Bengal. 

India is one of the greatest wheat producers (Fig. 147). 
Wheat is grown as cheaply as on our Western prairies, and 
in good crop years large quantities of wheat and flour are 
exported to Europe, chiefly Great Britain. Bombay and 
Karachi are the wheat-shipping ports (Figs. 148 and 149). 

Cotton, raw and manufactured, is the largest export 
(Fig. 150). India has been the second largest grower of 
cotton since our civil war, when Europe depended largely 
upon India for its cotton supply (page 84). Many cotton- 
mills at Bombay and other cities produce large quantities of 
cotton yarn sold in China, Japan, and other Oriental mar- 
kets, and cloth exported chiefly to East Africa. 

Jute is second in importance among the fibers. Ben- 
gal is the chief source of supply, for it grows better along 
the lower Ganges than in any other part of the world. 
Jute gunny-bags and other products are exported to the 
value of $20,000,000 a year. Xearly the whole crop, raw or 
manufactured, is sent to Great Britain, the United States, 
and other countries. Indigo has been a great industry in 
the Bengal province of Behar, but the artificial production 



292 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



of this dyestuff in Germany is replacing vegetable indigo. 
The Government monopolizes the maniifacture of opium, 
which is sold to Chinese smokers; but the production of 




Ftg. 148.— Harbor of ■Rnmhay. 



opium is decreasing because China has prohibited opium 
smoking, which is very harmful to smokers. The trade is 
falling off. 

Tea is one of the largest exports. India supplies two- 
thirds and Ceylon one-third of the Indian teas which have 
largely supplanted Chinese teas in England and the British 
colonies, and is invading the United States and other 
markets (Figs. 150 and 151). 

Animal products. — In so densely peopled a country 
there is little room for pasturage. This fact, as well as the 



INDIA 



293 



prejudice against meat, restricts stock-farming. Cattle are 
raised for draft purposes and milk, and sheep and goats for 
their wool. The silkworm is reared, but the imports of 
raw silk are larger than the home production. 

Manufactures. — The native textiles, artistic metal work, 
weapons, and other articitjci oi mttnutacture liave been famous 




Fig. 149.— a flour-mill run by wind power in northern India. 



for ages. House industries are found everywhere, and 
every village has its craftsmen of all sorts. Many modern 
branches of manufactures also are being introduced, includ- 
ing cotton- and woolen-mills, flour-mills, tanneries, ship- 
yards, iron foundries, and breweries. Many of these facto- 



294 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



ries are controlled by British capital ; but all the Indian 
industries do not begin to supply the demand for manufac- 
tured goods. 

Commerce. — Many of the common roads are kept in ex- 
cellent condition. Besides railroads, rivers, and canals, 




Fig. 150. 



elephants, camels, and wagons drawn by zebus are used in 
transportation. Nearly all of the foreign trade centers in 
the four great seaports of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and 



[NDIA 



295 



Many steamship-lines connect these 
Raw cotton sent to Europe and Japan, 



Karachi (Fig. 147). 
ports with Europe, 
cotton yarns to 
China, and cotton 
textiles to East 
Africa are about 
one-sixth of the 
total exports. The 
other large sales 
are hides and skins, 
oil seeds, tea, jute, 
and opium. India, 
being poor in min- 
erals and general 
manufactures, im- 
ports metal wares, 
textiles, and manu- 
factures to the 
value of about two- 
thirds of the ex- 
ports. England has 
nearly three-fourths 
of the import and 
over a fourth of the 
export trade. The 
United States sells 
little to India, but 
buys a large amount 
of jute, hides, indi- 
go, and tea. 

Burma, a prov- 
ince of India, is the 
greatest source of 
rice exports, selling 
abroad nearly half the rice it raises. The world's chief 
supply of rubies, one of the most valuable of gems, comes 





^-^^^/■. ..= ,:..,.- 


^E^mm 


mm 




"4if' 


->A^ 


r t 'r" 


-mi^.A), i 


5: l-:5 : 




'^ 


Shi.'-'-' ■■"^- . -■ ' 




mm: 



Fig. 151.— a tea-flantation in India. 
Picking the leaves. 



296 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 




from Burma. The Ira- 
wadi is a fine highway 
of commerce through 
the heart of the coun- 
try, between Mandalay 
and the port of Ran-' 
goon. 

Ceylon. — The great 
tea - plantations of the 
island of Ceylon con- 
tribute nearly half of 
its exports. It pro- 
duces more graphite 
than any other coun- 
try, half of it coming 
to the United States. 
Copra and cinnamon 
are also important ex- 
ports. 

Siberia. — The frost- 
bound northern third 
of Siberia is of little 
value for ' commerce. 
South of this region is 
a continuous forest of 
conifers, from the Ob 
River to beyond the 
Lena, yielding lumber 
and abounding with fur 
animals. In southern 
Siberia (Fig. 152) is 
the agricultural zone. 
The southwestern part 
is the most fertile and 
thickly settled region. 
It is from this area 



SIBERIA— CAUCASIA 297 

that wheat and domestic animals are mostly exported. 
Here also are large numbers of cattle and sheep, cattle 
being most numerous near the large towns, where the de- 
mand for dairy products and beef is greatest. 

The mineral resources are enormous. Two-thirds of 
Eussia's gold output comes from Siberia. The silver out- 
put is comparatively small, and little attention is as yet 
paid to other metals, though they are abundant. 

Most manufactured articles are derived from Eussia. 
That country is stimulating an enormous immigration to 
Siberia, and expects to make it a large market for Eussian 
manufactures. Lumber-making is the chief industry, but 
general manufactures are now established at Tomsk, Ir- 
kutsk, and a few other towns. 

The Siberian railroad, now extended from ocean to ocean 
(1902),- is promoting the development of Siberia. The 
rivers are also very important in transportation. Hundreds 
of steamers and barges ply on the Ob, while the Yenisei, 
the Lena, and other rivers are important highways. 

Most of the business is done with Eussia, and a con- 
siderable amount also with China, though Siberia is, for the 
most part, merely a forwarding agent for the Chinese trade 
with Eussia. Vladivostok, the Pacific coast port, has trade 
relations with west Europe, Japan, Korea, and our Pacific 
coast. As wheat does not thrive in east Siberia, our wheat 
and flour, as well as building materials, farm implements, 
and iron and steel products, are imported through Vladivos- 
tok. The policy of the Eussian Government is to keep out 
of Siberia all foreign manufactures that Eussian shops and 
mills can supply. 

Caucasia. — Petroleum is the largest product of Caucasia. 
K early the entire population around Baku, on the Caspian 
Sea, is engaged in collecting petroleum from deep wells 
and preparing it for market (Fig. 121). Most of the oil is 
used as fuel in factories, river steamers, and locomotives. 
Large quantities of petroleum are also refined, the kerosene 



298 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

being sent to Batum for shipment to Eussian or foreign 
markets, or sent on the Caspian to the Volga Eiver, by 
which it is widely distributed through Eussia. Batum, the 
best harbor on the east coast of the Black Sea, exports kero- 
sene, wheat, the noteworthy carpets and embroideries of 
Erivan (Eig. 121), and raw silk for Moscow mills. Many 
thousands of wooden and tin cases in which to ship kero- 
sene are made at Batum, though a great deal of the oil is 
forwarded in bulk. 

Russian Central Asia. — This great territory, between the 
Caspian Sea and India, is largely an arid desert, but fine 
oases are interspersed among the sand wastes, where rivers 
supply water for irrigation (Fig. 153). The region became 
important in its trade relations with Eussia only after the 
building of the Trans-Caspian railroad. Cotton is the 
largest export, nearly 800,000,000 pounds being shipped to 
Eussia every year over the railroad. Eussia is depending 
more and more upon Eussian Central Asia for its supply of 
this fiber. Eussia's policy of extending railroad-lines and 
irrigation works is greatly enlarging the areas of cultiva- 
tion. 

Persia. — Difiiculties of transportation and lack of cap- 
ital are obstacles to the commerce of this rich country. It 
is an elevated table-land, a third of it desert and salt plains 
with other irrigated plains and valleys watered from the 
mountains, and growing wheat, the poppy (opium), raw 
silk shipped to western markets, cotton sent to Bombay, 
Moscow, and Marseilles, tobacco that is smoked throughout 
the southwestern part of Asia, and dates exported through 
the Persian Gulf (Fig. 154). The large mineral resources 
are neglected, but practically all the turquoises in the 
markets come from northeastern Persia. The most im- 
portant manufactured export is Persian carpets and rugs, 
made in a great variety of patterns, no two being alike. 
The imports are much larger than the exports, consisting 
of textiles, Eussian sugar and kerosene, carriages, and gen- 




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300 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



eral wares. Eussia and England are rivals for the trade of 
Persia and divide most of it between them. 

Aden. — This British town, on the southwest coast of 
Arabia, is a free port serviceable to all the leading commer- 
cial nations. As it is open to all nations, it is a receiving and 
forwarding port for the commodities of the surrounding 




Fig. 154.— The date palm. 

countries. Many products from East Africa, for example, 
are sent to Aden in small vessels to be transshipped to 
ocean liners. 

The Straits Settlements. — The chief product of this crown 
colony of Great Britain is tin, which is smelted at Singa- 
pore in the largest tin smelting works of the world. Our 
country buys half of the metal used in its tin-plate mills 
from this source. Singapore, with its large landlocked har- 
bor, is a great receiving and forwarding port for South 
Asia west of Hongkong. Shanghai, Hongkong, and Singa- 
pore all play the same role in international trade. They 
are great entrepots for the commercial exchanges between 
the Orient and the Occident. Most of the spices of the 



SIAM— TBE DUTCH EAST INDIES 301 

Malayan Archipelago are shipped to us through Singapore 
(page 57). 

Siam. — The valley of the Menam Eiver is the richest 
and most populous part of Siam. Kice, grown in the delta 
of the Menam, is not only the chief article of food, but also 
the leading product and export. The size of the crop de- 
pends upon the rise and fall of the Menam, the crop being 
large when the river is high enough to thoroughly flood the 
paddy-fields. Only Burma and Cochin-China surpass Siam 
in rice exports, which are four-fifths of the total foreign 
sales of that kingdom. The next largest export is teak ; 
the logs are floated 500 miles dowm the Menam to Bang- 
kok, where they are squared in sawmills and sent to Lon- 
don and other markets. Bangkok can not be reached by 
^large steamships on account of the bar at the mouth of the 
Menam. Only Danish and Dutch steamers ply regularly to 
Bangkok, most of the foreign trade being transshipped at 
Singapore or Hongkong. 

French Indo-CMna. — Rice is the chief product of Cochin- 
China, Cambodia, Annam, and Tonkin, which comprise 
French Indo-China. Cochin-China sends more rice than 
any other country to Hongkong and Singapore to be dis- 
tributed in other Asiatic lands ; most of the Burma rice 
goes to the western countries. All these dependencies are 
rich in resources, but their development, except in Cochin- 
China, is small. Most of the textiles, general manufactures, 
and kerosene they buy come from England, the United 
States, and Japan. 

Korea. — This country is rapidly opening to foreign trade 
and influence. As the country is almost wholly agricultural, 
beans, rice, hides, and ginseng are the only important ex- 
ports, except a little gold. Cotton cloth is more "than half 
of the imports, silk goods and kerosene also being important. 
Japan has built a railroad through it. 

The Dutch East Indies. — Xo other Asiatic colonies con- 
tribute so much to foreign trade as the Dutch possessions. 



302 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

The richest of them is Java, the most densely populated 
land near the equator. The entire island, except the higher 
parts of the mountains, has been turned into gardens. The 
lowlands produce one of the greatest crops of sugar-cane. 
In the middle zone are the coffee-plantations, Java coffee 
being found in all the markets of the world. Still higher 
are the tea-plantations, which yield about 25,000,000 pounds 
a year. Java is also the largest producer of quinine. Su- 
matra's products are similar, but it raises far more tobacco, 
its chief export, of which the United States buys about 
$4,000,000 worth a year. The little islands of Banka and 
Billiton are among the large sources of tin. All the other 
Dutch islands are important for spices, gutta-percha, gold, 
or other products, and all contribute to the commercial 
greatness of the mother country. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND OCEANIA 

Australia. — The Commonwealth of Australia, a British 
colony, is the smallest of the continents, being about as 
large as the United States, exclusive of Alaska. The popu- 
lation (little more than that of New York city) is nine- 
tenths British. Fig. 155 shows the narrow areas, chiefly in 
the southwest, where the rainfall is sufficient for agricul- 
ture, the drier grazing lands behind the plowed areas, and 
the thirsty desert of the interior, in which rich gold-fields 
have been discovered. The three great resources are ani- 
mal-raising, mining, and farming. Being in the southern 
hemisphere, the farm-crops (wheat, maize, grapes, etc.) are 
matured and marketed in the winter and spring of the 
northern hemisphere, when prices in the purchasing coun- 
tries are likely to be highest. 

Animal products. — Sheep are the main dependence, and 
wool is the great product. AVool is more cheaply produced 
than in most countries, because the flocks, living in the 
open air the year round, require no winter fodder, and pas- 
turage and land are very cheap. The wool is mostly merino, 
of a superior quality, and is sent to market scoured and 
ready for the manufacturer. The railroad system was ex- 
tended far into the plains to the Darling River (Fig. 156), 
solely to meet the demands of the wool trade. New South 
Wales has more than half of the sheep, Queensland being 
second in this industry; Victoria is third in the quan- 
tity of wool, but the fiber is unsurpassed in the world for 
fineness and length of staple, due to the quality of the grass 
20 303 



304 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



and the drier air. A great disadvantage in the sheep in- 
dustry, however, is the long droughts, which sometimes dry 
up the streams, causing the loss of millions of sheep. 




Fig. 155. 



Nearly the whole wool-crop is exported to all the great 
manufacturing countries buying more or less Australian 
wool. The few woolen-mills of Victoria and New South 
Wales consume only a very small part of the crop. Wool- 
huyers from Europe annually visit the markets at Sydney 
and Melbourne (which, with Liverpool, regulate the price 
of wool in every country), Geelong, and Adelaide to make 
their purchases, which sometimes amount to 1100,000,000 
or more in a year. Nearly two-thirds of all the wool im- 
ported into Europe by sea comes from Australia. 

Another great industry is the frozen-meat trade. Aus- 



AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND OCEANL\ 305 




100 200 300 400 500 GOO 700 
Va"*- 120 



Fig. 156.— The east coast is more favorable for commerce than the others. It is pro- 
tected for more than 1,000 miles by the Great Barrier Reef. It has the largest 
number of railroads, bringing the resources of the interior within easy reach of 
the ports. Brisbane commands the coal and wool trade of south Queensland. 
Newcastle, the largest coal port in the southern hemisphere, depends upon the 
coal mines within a radius of 30 miles around it. Sydney, with over 100 miles of 
water front along its splendid bay, is the terminus of all steamship-lines between 
Europe and Australia. The west half of the south coast has no harbor except 
Albany, a port of call for steamers from Suez with freight for the west coast to 
be forwarded by rail. Adelaide, the outlet of a fine agricultural region, has a har- 
bor that may be entered by the largest vessels in any weather. Melbourne, the 
largest city of the Commonwealth, on the river Yarra, has a commodious harbor ; 
vessels of 8,000 tons may ascend the Yarra to the heart of the city, which handles 
nine-tenths of the foreign trade of Victoria. Fremantle, the most important port 
on the west coast, is now (1918) connected by rail across the continent with 
Sydney. 

tralia sends to England every year millions of frozen sheep- 
carcasses. The business is confined to the four eastern 
states.. Australian mutton is in great demand among the 
masses of the British people, as it is excellent in quality 
and cheaper than the home mutton. It costs three cents 



306 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

a pound to kill, freeze, ship, and sell Australian mutton in 
London. 

Cattle have the second place in the animal industries, 
but only Queensland is prominent in exporting frozen beef. 
The dairying industry is most important in Victoria, which 
sends more butter to England than the United States sells 
in that market. 

Vegetable products. — Australia grows most of the useful 
plants of the tropical and temperate zones. Cotton of 
good staple thrives in Queensland and northern New South 
Wales. North Queensland raises enormous quantities of 
bananas for the Australian markets. Cane-sugar and maize 
are also great crops in the north. Wheat and the grape 
are the main products of the cooler and drier farm-lands of 
the south. The grapes from many thousands of acres are 
turned into raisins. Most of the export wheat comes from 
South Austi*alia. The continent, however, is not a reliable 
€ontributor to the wheat supplies of importing countries, 
as short crops often result from severe droughts, and even 
in good years the yield per acre is not large ; but irrigation 
is larf^ely extending the agricultural area, and Australia's 
grea^^est importance as an exporter of breadstuffs is in the 
futare (Fig. 157). 

The native timber being hardwood, is not well adapted 
for ordinary building purposes, and therefore much pine is 
imported from our Pacific coast, Canada, and Scandinavia. 
The superior Australian hardwoods — jarrah for railroad 
ties and karri for wood-paving — are exported. 

Mineral products. — The mineral wealth is enormous. 
Gold is the largest mineral resource, more than half the 
Australian output (1909) being supplied by the mines in 
the desert of West Australia. Nearly all the gold is minted 
at Melbourne or Sydney and exported in sovereigns and 
half sovereigns, a great deal coming to this country. The 
larger part of the coal comes from New South Wales, which 
exports coal to South Asia and even to our Pacific coast. 



AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND OCEANIA 307 



Tin is a large product, particularly of Tasmania, the island 
off the southeast coast. Extensive beds of iron ore are 
found in New South Wales. Gold, silver, tin, and coal 
are the only minerals that are yet mined on a large scale. 

Manufactures. — No branch of the manufacturing in- 
dustries yet supplies the needs of the country, ^yhile 
manufactures are growing 
in the larger cities the im- 
ports continue to consist 
mainly of the industrial 
products of other coun- 
tries. 

Commerce. — The rail- 
roads are rapidly develop- 
ing ; but a great disadvan- 
tage of the railroad system 
is that each colony adopt- 
ed its own gage, so that 
freight and passengers are 
still transferred to other 
trains at the frontiers of 
the states. Sydney, the 
distributing point for the 
entire east coast trade, com- 
manding also the Pacific 
island trade, the terminal 
port in Australia of the 
foreign steamship service 
and growing in manufac- 
tures more rapidly than 
any other city, is the chief 

commercial center of the Commonwealth, and now rivals 
Melbourne in population. 

Most exports are raw products, and most imports are 
manufactured commodities. By far the larger part of the 
trade is with Great Britain and the other British colonies. 




Fig. 157.— An artesian well. 



308 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



The United States and Germany, as well as Great Britain, 

have regular steamship connections with Australia. The 

most important exports 

are wool, hides, meats, 

dairy products, gold and 

other metals, wheat, and 

flour. The main imports 

are manufactures, tea, 

coffee, and sugar. The 

petroleum, tobacco, and 

manufactures we sell to 

Australia are worth 

about five times as much 

as our purchases from 

that continent. The 

Australian exports 

more than pay for 

the imports. 

New Zea- 
land.— This / ^''''f^ iir^'^\ '"'"'"'^ / ^ost 

J/ SCUT WW IX // 

country /^ ^reymouoy, "f /^ prospcr- 

is one yf ^"^i ^-JJ y^ous oolo- 

of the yT 1 S L A N D^^^ ^ f X%"^ y^nies of Great 

Britain (Fig. 
158). The cli- 
mate is favorable 
for the white race ; 
the inhabitants every 
year sell over $80,000,000 
of their products to other 
countries. The constant 
westerly winds deposit most 
of their moisture on the west 
coast, so that the forests and forest industries are mainly 
on the west side of the islands, while the east side is more 
important for grazing, farming, and commerce. 




-New Zealand 



AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND OCEANIA 309 

Animal iyidustries. — Sheep-raising is the leading in- 
dustry. Animals and their products are more than three- 
fifths of the exports ; wool is nearly two-fifths — the business 
of freezing and exporting mutton and beef also being very 
large. New Zealand mutton is regarded as the best that is 
sent to England. Enormous quantities of butter and cheese 
of excellent quality are exported. The dairy products are 
made in factories on the cooperative plan, as in Denmark, 
which insures an output of a high and uniform grade. 

Vegetable products. — Wheat and oats (exports) are the 
principal crops, thriving best in the South Island, though 
also grown in the North Island. A distinctive product is 
New Zealand flax, or phormium, growing wild in the valley 
of the Waikato Eiver. Another distinctive product is the 
tall kauri pine, yielding not only fine timber, but also the 
kauri gum of commerce used in making varnishes. The 
colony manufactures its own lumber, and exports some 
barks valuable for tanning. 

Mineral resources.— Coal and gold are the only impor- 
tant minerals. Practically all the gold ($10,000,000 a year) 
is exported. As the coal (less than 2,000,000 tons a year) 
is not sufficient for home needs, coal is imported from New 
South AVales. 

Manufactures. — Industrial development is stimulated by 
the supply of good coal near at hand. Wool-scouring and 
meat-preserving employ many thousands of persons. New 
Zealand is mainly independent of other countries in boots 
and shoes, woolen goods, brick, furniture, lumber, beer, and 
flour. Most manufactures are protected by a high tariff. 

Commerce. — There are no important harbors on the 
mountainous west coast. The east coast has four fine har^ 
bors, besides others of importance in the coasting trade. 
Port Chalmers is the harbor for large vessels of the busy 
manufacturing city of Dunedin. Lyttelton is the port of 
Christchurch, the second largest city, which stands on the 
rich Canterbury plain where the largest agriculture and 



310 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



sheep-growing are centered. The chief ports of the North 
Island are Wellington^ the capital of New Zealand, and 
Auckland, the largest city of the colony and a port of call 
for steamships in the American-Australian trade. 

Three-fourths of the trade is with Great Britain. Most 
■of the remainder is with Australia, India, and Fiji. The 
United States has only a small proportion of the total 
foreign commerce. The imports are mainly manufactures; 

the leading exports are 
wool, frozen meat, gold, 
grain, phormium, kauri 
gum, hides, tallow, and 
timber. 

Oceania. — The is- 
land groups of the Pa- 
cific have a growing 
trade with the rest of 
the world. They have 
tropical and some min- 
eral products of much 
value in the world's 
markets, besides food- 
plants of special im- 
portance in the nour- 
ishment of the island- 
ers. 

The most thriving 
colony is the Fiji Is- 
lands, which sends a 
great deal of sugar, 
copra, and bananas to 
New Zealand and Aus- 
tralia. The French island of New Caledonia is exception- 
ally rich in minerals and metals, and is one of the largest 
sources of supply of nickel and cobalt. If we summarize 
the trade of all the many island groups we shall find that 




—The cocoanut-palm and its fruit. 



AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND OCEANIA 311 

their principal export is copra, the dried meat of the cocoa- 
nut. Observe the wide range (Fig. 19) around the world 
on both sides of the equator of the cocoanut-palm. It 
fringes all tropical islands of the Pacific, where it is found 
in its greatest perfection. The cocoanut is the food of 
millions of people in the East Indies and the Pacific, while 




Fig. 160.— a fishing-boat in Fiji, 



copra is largely used in the manufacture of soaps (Fig. 
159). One of the extensive food resources of the islands 
is the fisheries around their coasts (Fig. 160). 

The imports are manufactures and some food supplies. 
The total trade of all these many little groups is not equal 
to that of the Hawaiian Territory, which has the advantage 
of a cooler climate and high civilization ; but the resources 
of the islands will some day be better utilized, and then 
their commerce will be much more important. 



CHAPTEE XXXII 

AFRICA 

Egypt. — The mud which the annual floods of the ISTile 
spread over its banks enriches an area about as large as 
New Hampshire, giving life and commercial value to Egypt 
(Fig. 161). More than 11,000,000 people are distributed 
over the Xile delta and the fertile river banks. British in- 
fluence is supreme in Egypt and has contributed greatly to 
its recent rapid progress. Although the climate is warm, 
temperate as well as subtropical plants are raised. 

Three-fifths of the people are farmers. Cotton, raised 
mostly in the delta, exceptionally long in staple and fine in 
quality, supplies about three-fourths of all the exports. 
The entire crop is sold abroad, half of it in England and 
the remainder in other countries of Europe and the United 
States. 

Cereals and vegetables are about a fifth of the exports. 
Eice thrives in the delta, but much has to be imported to 
feed the people. Wheat is a still larger crop, and the sui 
plus wheat, maize, and beans are sent to Europe. Egyptian 
onions go to the United States as well as European countries. 
Tobacco is one of the largest imports, as its cultivation in 
Egypt is prohibited ; a great deal of Turkish leaf is therefore 
imported to make the " Egyptian cigarettes " that are sold 
all over the world. The imports of animal products are 
much larger than the exports. 

The industries have small development, and manufac- 
tures are, as a natural consequence, the largest imports; 
textiles, hardware and machinery, glass, and chemicals also 
313 



AFRICA 



313 



are the most important purchases. Egypt, having no tim- 
ber, imports much lumber from the northern countries and 
Enghmd sends coal. The cotton exports, however, are so 
large that Egypt as a rule sells more to other nations than 
she buys from them. Our purchases of Egyptian cotton 




Fig. 161.— a farm scene on the Nile. 



are worth two or three times as much as our sales to 
Egypt. Observe in Fig. 1 the important railroad connec- 
tions between the Suez Canal and the Nile and the Xile 
railroad extending to Khartum, giving Egypt rapid com- 
munications with the eastern Sudan. Alexandria is the 
largest port and commercial city. Cairo is the largest city 
in Africa. 

Tripoli. — This dependency of Turkey has the largest 
caravan trade with the Sudan, its coast-line being nearest 
to the Sudan and the wells along its desert routes being 
most numerous (Fig. 162). Ostrich-feathers, ivory, gold- 
dust, and hides are brought across the desert on camels, 
which carry back such European manufactures as the Su- 



314 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

danese desire. Most of Tripoli is a sandy waste, inter- 
spersed with fertile oases producing dates. Its trade with 
Europe is not very large. 

Algeria. — This is the most important colony of France 
(Fig. 163). Five-sixths of the exterior trade is with the 
mother country. Algeria sends to France all kinds of 



^^^1^^ 


Wf^w 


v-tJlpp^ipsgBic^Jll^^^JJIIII^ 






^ 



Fig. 162. — A camel caravan crossing: the Sahara. 

early vegetables, which are carried on fast steamers to Mar- 
seilles, and are for sale in the Paris markets from thirty-five 
to forty hours after leaving Africa. Tobacco, one of the 
most remunerative crops, is sent largely to France. Wheats 
barley, olives, and oil-seeds are large crops sent to Mar- 
seilles. Algeria is one of the important wine producers, 
the vine thriving everywhere. France buys Algerian wines 
to mix with the cheaper French vintages. Large cork for- 
ests supply much of the cork of commerce. The oases on 
the edge of the Sahara make Algeria one of the great ex- 
porters of dates. 

Algeria buys nearly all its manufactures in France. 
The largest exports are tobacco, cereals, esparto for paper- 
making, wine, iron ore, cork, and vegetables. Our country 
has very little share in the trade. 

Tunis. — Tunis has made great progress under the French 
regime. Agriculture, the largest interest, has developed. 



AFRICA 



315 



EJSSS Grati and euUwated landa 

dSK Sandy Dctcrt. ^/^. h 
RaMroad, S. % ^' 



itfBiJ^ rBi2i2^;\ri^iv 



E A 




Fig. 163.— Algeria and Tunis. 

Algiers, the capital and chief port, has a fine artificial harbor, the fastest steamship 
connections with Marseilles, and exports more vegetables, tobacco, flax, wine, 
and sheep than any other port. Its great commercial advantages are its central 
position on the coast and the shortest sea route to Marseilles. 



The soil of the Tell (Fig. 163) is rich, producing cereals, 
oliye-oil, and wine for export. The olive-oil and dates of 
Tunis are regarded as the best in the world. Three-fifths 
of the trade is with France and Algeria, England, Malta, 
and Italy having a small part of it. 

Morocco. — This country is steeped in barbarism, though 
nearer to Europe than any other part of Africa. Its peo- 
ple are fanatical Mohammedans, and white men are not 
safe in most parts of the land. There are no railroads, 
and no roads except mule and camel paths. Tangier, Mo- 
gador, and a few smaller ports are open to foreign trade, 
which is very small. The imports are cotton, silks, hard- 
ware, candles, and petroleum. The chief exports are beans, 
cattle, wool, goat-skins, eggs, and wax. Morocco has now 
come under the rule of France and there is no doubt that 
its large resources will be developed. 

Tropical Africa. — Underground waters in the Sahara 
come to light in natural depressions (wells), or are reached 



316 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



by boring ; the surrounding lands are turned into oases, 
date-palms and cereals are raised, and thus some commer- 
cial value is given to the desert. 

Most of the tropical regions south of the Sahara are 
now held by European powers that are trying to develop 
commerce. The climate nearly everywhere is very un- 
healthful. In large regions human porterage is as yet 
the only means of transportation. The banana, yam, 
manioc, poultry, and goats are the food staples of the 
natives. Foreign commerce is not important except along 

the coasts and in the 
great river-basins of the 
Niger and the Congo, 
where the streams afford 
good transportation fa- 
cilities. 

The coasts of tropi- 
cal Africa export palm- 
oil (mainly for soaps, 
Fig. 164), rubber, coffee, 
ground-nuts (peanuts), 
ivory, and a few other 
tropical products, and 
import cotton goods, cut- 
lery, spirits, firearms, 
brass wire, and several 
other commodities. Far 
larger quantities of ivory 
and rubber are derived 
from the upper Congo 
than from any of the 
coast regions. England, Germany, and France are most 
prominent in the trade with these tropical countries, but 
the commerce of the United States with tropical Africa is 
growing. 

French textiles are the most important import into 




Fig 164.— The oil-palm. 

The native haa climbed the tree to collect the 

fruit from which the oil is obtained. 



AFRICA 



317 



Madagascar, a French possession. The chief exports are 
riil)ber. wnx. liides, gold, and vanilhi. 

South Africa. — More than half of South Africa is defi- 
cient in rainfall. The western part of the country (Fig. 




Saldatiha Bo 



Gold Fields 
X X Diamond Fields 



Fig. 165. — South Aprica. 
Kone of the ports, except Lorenzo Marquez, is naturally a good harbor. Immense 
sums have been spent to make them fairly safe and convenient for shipping. 
Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, is at a corner of the country inconve- 
niently situated for the business of the interior. It is the leading port of South 
Africa only with respect to the export of gold and diamonds, which it nearly 
monopolizes. Excepting gold and diamonds, more of the things that South 
Africa sells to the rest of the world or buys from it pass through Port Elizabeth 
than through any other port. 

165) can develop agriculture only where irrigation is pos- 
sible; its mining and stock-raising interests will always be 
important. The eastern part, however, and the narrow 



318 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



strip across the south end, are adapted for cereals and 
fruits of the temperate and subtropical climates. Most 
of this large territory is in the hands of the British. Por- 
tuguese East Africa and German West Africa have as yet 
little importance in commerce. 

Observe in Fig. 165 the distribution of agricultural 
products. Thousands of acres near Cape Town are planted 
with grapes, yielding millions of gallons of wine, and fresh 
grapes sent in cold storage to Great Britain. South Africa 
produces much of the tobacco it consumes. Ostrich cul- 




FiG. 166.— An ostrich farm. 

Showing the dry scrubby lands (the bush country) to which the industry 
is confined. 



ture (Figs. 165 and 166) is surpassed only by wool and the 
hair of the Angora goat in exports of animal products. 
The industry is centered mainly in the hands of men of 
considerable capital. Ordinary feathers are worth from $5 



AFRICA 319 

to 17 a pound, but the finest plumes from the wings and 
tail are sometimes worth as much as $200 a pound. 

Wool-growing is the largest grazing industry. Many 
millions of sheep feed on the plains from the Great Karroo 
northward. Only Australasia and the Eio de la Plata coun- 
tries surpass South Africa in the quantity of wool exported. 
The foreign sales are more than double the value of any 
other exports, excepting gold and diamonds. 

Goats are much more numerous than cattle. The most 
impo:'tant in commerce is the Angora goat, which was 
brought to the Cape from Asia Minor about the middle of 
the last century. The mohair exports (about $5,000,000 a 
year) surpass those of Asia Minor in fineness and softness 
of texture. 

The Boers have long raised great herds of cattle on their 
large farms in the Transvaal, and there are many cattle 
along the coasts ; hides are an important export, but cattle 
are far inferior to the sheep and Angora goat industries in 
export value. The demand for oxen is very large, as much 
of the transport still depends upon the slow ox -wagon. 
Observe in Figs. 167 and 168 the striking contrast between 
modern transportation and the ox trains of South Africa. 

In 1907 the business interests of South Africa had fully 
recovered from the long and ruinous war between the Boers 
and Great Britain; now that peace has been restored the 
exports of gold far exceed in value those of all other com- 
modities. This is due to the wonderful development of 
gold-mining in the Transvaal, particularly on the Witwa- 
tersrand (White River Ridge) around Johannesburg, which 
in 1898 produced more gold than any other country, and in 
1909 supplied about a third of the gold mined in that year. 

iSTinety-eight per cent of all the diamonds of commerce 
come from the mines at Kimberley. All the mining inter- 
ests art consolidated under one management, no more dia- 
monds being mined than the market will take at a good 
price. l\ew fields have been found in German S. W. Africa. 
21 



AFRICA 



321 



These facts show that the chief sales of South Africa 
are gold, diamonds, wool, hides, mohair, wine, and ostrich- 
feathers. Nearly all of them go to Great Britain. Many 
of the exports finally reach other countries, but mainly 
through the channels of British commerce. Manufactures 
being little developed in South Africa, a great many com- 
modities are purchased from other nations. In time of 
peace the United States sends to South Africa millions of 
dollars worth of wheat, flour, machinery, agricultural im- 
plements, hardware, lumber, and other things. Most of 




Fig. 169.— Main Street, Port Elizabeth. 
The largest wholesale trade in South Africa is conducted on this street. 



the cloths are imported from British mills. Wood products 
of all kinds are a large import, because South Africa has 
little timber. This part of Africa, highly favored by na- 
ture, has abundant raw materials to produce most of its 
manufactures. The reason why so little attention has 
been given to manufacturing industries is that the white 
population is still sparse, and has not been able as yet to 
develop manufactures as well as the natural products of 
their country (Fig. 169). 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

REBUILDING THE WORLD 

In 1918, the nations emerged from the greatest war 
'of all time — a war that spread around the world on land 
and sea, that killed or tortured more men, women and chil- 
dren, that left more homes in ruin, and brought dire want 
and hunger to more countries than any other war in history. 

During those terrible four and a half years, the idea, 
perhaps, did not occur to most of us that, even then, the 
allied nations were preparing themselves to rebuild the 
world after they had vanquished the evil influences that 
had wrought colossal destruction. 

Millions of the allies, men and women, were striving 
every day in those years, to produce the greatest result they 
could achieve. They worked with might and main in the 
military camp, the trenches, on the battle fields, in the hos- 
pitals and on the seas. They toiled in countless workshops 
and factories, sowed and planted on the farms, delved in 
hundreds of coal and iron mines and, in many other ways, 
helped the cause along. Most of their work was planned 
and supervised, in every stage, by trained experts of both 
sexes who could scientifically organize every step and process 
so that the highest efficiency, the greatest output possible, 
might be attained ; and the millions were not only doing 
these things for the cause, but they were also getting disci- 
pline, and insight into the best ways of doing things so that 
we may carry on, more efficiently than ever, the toil and 
the duty that peace is bringing. 
322 



REBUILDING THE WORLD 323 

War has schooled us in efficiency. — As a working people, 
we have had incessant and strennous training in efficiency, 
during these years of war. Efficient men and women are 
those who have acquired such knowledge or skill in their 
work, whatever it may be, that they can do the right thing 
or produce the right result without waste of time or labor. 
Great progress cannot be made without efficiency. Perhaps 
we may now help some peoples living under our own flag, 
the Philippine islanders, for example, to become really 
efficient. 

The improvement of conditions in the Philippines has 
become very marked since the islands came under our flag in 
1898; but much still remains to be done. H. J. Waters, 
President of the Kansas State Agricultural College, who 
was sent by our government to the Philippines to report 
on the conditions of agriculture, says the country is very 
backward but its possibilities are great. Less than half of 
its farm lands are under cultivation. With only a sixth of 
the population of Japan, it imports more foodstuffs per 
capita than that Empire. If its sugar planters grew as 
much sugar per acre as in Java, they would, without in- 
crease in acreage, lead the world in cane sugar production. 
The people import a fourth of the rice they eat, but if they 
raised as much per acre as Japan does, they would be the 
third largest producing country. If their acre yield of corn 
equalled that of Japan or the United States, they could 
support larger pork and poultry industries than Canada or 
Australia. The total population is less than 8,000,000. 
When the land is fully utilized and the fisheries, manu- 
factures and commerce are developed, there will be enough 
food and wealth to support 40,000,000 people. Efficiency 
will be the great factor in producing this result. When it 
fully comes, we shall see a wonderful change in those fine 
islands, whose recent progress is so encouraging. 

Inefficient farming. — Many countries have not yet begun. 



324 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

adequately, to utilize the natural resources with which they 
are endowed. For years past, for example, the wheat crop 
in much of the great wheat growing region of our West 
has not yielded quite fifteen bushels to an acre. This is 
partly due to the practice of growing wheat on the same 
land for some years in succession, partly to' insufficient fer- 
tilization, and also to poor culture and care. There is no 
reason why we should not raise thirty or more bushels of 
w^heat to an acre as England does. By better care and til- 
lage we have, in the past few years, increased our average 
wheat yield over three bushels per acre above our former 
average yield. In time, the great farms in North Dakota 
and in some other states will be divided into smaller ones 
and, if the land then receives the best culture that can be 
given to it, every square mile will feed a larger population 
than it now supports. In other words, we shall raise wheat 
more efficiently. 

Large areas of land in many parts of the world will 
become food producers when we learn better how to provide 
them with the moisture they need to make them fertile. 
Great regions in our own West have naturally rich soil but 
lack water. We are reclaiming some of these areas where 
it is possible to bring water to them, and they are producing 
the finest of fruits, vegetables and grains, but these dry 
lands are so vast that water cannot be brought to all of 
them, though large areas have sufficient grass to make them 
useful in the grazing industry. 

Dry farming. — Wide areas that lack sufficient water are 
turned to good account by means of dry farming. It was 
thought, not many years ago, that wheat could never be 
raised in North Dakota, west of the Missouri Eiver, though 
the part of the state east of the Missouri was famous for 
its wheat fields. But anyone who now travels there during 
harvest sees wheat fields spreading to the horizon from the 
Bad Lands of the western border to the river. These yellow 



REBUILDING THE WOULD 325 

fields are a glorious sight in that vast region which, a few 
years ago, produced only grass. By applying the efficient 
means this miracle has been wrought both in North Dakota 
and in western Kansas. Farmers who prodnice yery good 
crops by dry farming keep the land surface well pulverized 
by plowing. The result is that the rain sinks deeper into 
the soil, evaporation is retarded and crops get the benefit 
of the precipitation. We do not know yet how much of our 
thirsty lands may thus be reclaimed; but we do know that 
dry farming is helping to develop large areas where the 
rainfall is less than 20 inches a year. 

Getting the best from Nature's gifts. — The people of 
no country can be called fully efficient until they learn how 
to get the best that can be derived from the material that 
Nature provides. In southern Spain, the white mulberry, 
the favorite food of the silkworm, grows finely and the man- 
ufacture of silk was once a thriving industry there. But 
the Spaniard of to-day takes little interest in silk growing 
and this source of wealth has decayed. Neglecting such 
rich sources of wealth is not efficiency. All our ostrich 
feathers were once obtained only from wild birds found 
chiefly in the dry regions of Africa. Not many years ago, 
v/hite men began to rear ostriches for their feathers on 
enclosed lands in South Africa. They soon found that they 
could greatly improve the quality of the feathers by rearing 
chicks only from birds that grew the finest plumage. In 
this way they have built up a great and prosperous industry 
because ostrich feathers are now more attractive than ever 
and therefore in greater demand. Efficient conduct of that 
business is making it a great success. 

Many new fields invite the worker. — When the ques- 
tions of the war are settled, explorers will enter new fields 
to see what they hold for man, in regions that have not 
been fully explored. In the Amazon basin are vast tracts 



326 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

between the rivers that no man has yet seen. Some day, 
these regions may yield great wealth in rubber and other 
commodities. Canada holds some of the largest areas still 
unknown in North America. The pioneer farmers in 
Alberta, a few years ago, went, now and then, to the higher 
and dryer plateau west of their farms to round up their 
cattle. They found, here and there on the surface, what 
they thought were rocks, black in color. Experts said they 
were bits of bituminous coal; and we now know that the 
surface of Alberta is underlaid by one of the large coal fields 
of the w^orld. There are still considerable areas further 
north that have never been entered by white men; and 
v/ealth of one kind or another may still be revealed in 
northern Canada. 

It has been discovered, only recently, that a large region 
in the Northern Territory of Australia has water and that 
the cattle industry may be established there. So much of 
Australia is too dry to be turned to good account that every 
part of it that includes water resources is bound to be 
utilized. 

Development in Africa has been almost wholly neglected 
during the war. It will now go on there more rapidly than 
ever. The great problem of the tropical regions has been 
solved in Africa. We know now that white men may live 
in the hot countries, attend to all their duties and keep 
in very good health. This great discovery means that the 
lands within the tropics will, in time, be fitted to yield all 
the goods they have in store for the human race. Africa 
will benefit the whole world ; and the hard work to be done 
there will be very largely shared by millions of blacks. We 
shall not again see such brutality in Africa as has been 
inflicted upon the natives by one European power. How 
much better it is to train them for efficient service. Before 
the war, they had graded road beds for thousands of miles 
of railway; they had strung telegraph wires across the con- 



REBUILDING THE WORLD 327 

tinent, were telegraph operators, and some were even drivers 
on locomotives, as well as carpenters, printers and so on. 
If we make the most of the efficiencj^ that can be developed 
in the African native, he will have a worthy share in the 
development of his continent. 

Development of South America. — A great opportunity 
is now before our people, efficiently to help in the upbuild- 
ing of South America which, in the development of its re- 
sources and trade, still lags far behind some other parts of 
the world. The South American republics are very rich in 
undeveloped resources but they need foreign skill, capital 
and immigration to make their vast natural wealth avail- 
able ; and above all, they need more railroads. 

On the llanos of Venezuela are over 2,000,000 cattle, 
but they might support millions more. Venezuela, how- 
ever, will never advance far with only 600 miles of railroad 
in its vast territory more than twice as large as Texas. 
Venezuela has enormous resources that can be developed 
only when she has the means of handling them. 

Every indication points to enormous supplies of petro- 
leum in the northwest of Colombia. When coal and iron 
are found near one another, it is a great advantage, for 
coal is needed to smelt iron ore. It happens that these two 
minerals are very near together in many parts of that 
country ; but the larger part of Colombia has no connection 
with the sea by rail or navigable river. 

The metal platinum, now growing in usefulness every 
year, was first revealed in Colombia more than 180 years 
ago and is now a regular export. But more bulky and less 
valuable minerals such as copper, lead, iron and zinc, in 
which the country abounds, are not moved, because a great 
deal of Colombia's trade has to be carried over roads that 
are little more than nmle tracks; and mule tracks do not 
largely promote the trade and prosperity of any country. 

South America's enormous resources will be developed ' 



328 ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 

just as soon as the conveniences for developing them are 
supplied. Our own country will be very conspicuous in 
helping to open the treasure house of South America; and, 
first of all, in these early days of peace, will come larger and 
closer business relations between the United States .and 
South America, utilizing immediately all the advantages 
that the Panama Canal now gives to trade, and creating 
new opportunities as fast as improved conditions are 
supplied. 



STATISTICAL TABLES 



329 



Statistics of the Principal Countries 



CorXTRY. 



Area 

(in thou- 
sand sq. 
miles) . 



Population 

(in thou- 
sands). 


Density 

(to the 

sq. mile). 


Imports 
(in mil- 
lion 
dollars). 


8,700.0 


7.64 


406.8 


5,044.0 


1.70 


388.1 


51,505.0 


197.31 


691.5 


7,639.0 


671.69 


974.6 


2,268.0 


3.20 


21.3 


24,308.0 


7.39 


326.8 


4,767.0 


108 . 20 


38.4 


7,758.0 


2.08 


633.6 


3,464.0 


11.85 


120.2 


336,042.0 


78.57 


427.4 


5,473.0 


12 57 


26.9 


411.0 


21.99 


8 6 


2,474.0 


53.92 


133.9 


2,861.0 


183.56 


229.2 


15,00.0 


12.64 


10.6 


11,287.0 


29.40 


137.7 


39,602.0 


191.19 


1,642.1 


67,095 . 


31.98 


2,563.3 


3,912.0 


94.38 


30.4 


2,119.0 


43.88 


10.0 


2,500.0 


225.79 


10.9 


589.0 


13.09 


5.1 


315,133.0 


177.73 


594.5 


35,239.0 


318.36 


702.0 


52,985.0 


358 . 74 


363 . 2 



Exports 
(in mil- 
lion 
dollars). 



Argentina 

Australia 

Austria-Hungary 

Belgium 

Bolivia 

Brazil 

Bulgaria 

Canada 

Chile 

China 

Colombia 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Denmark 

Ecuador 

Egypt 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Guatemala 

Haiti 

Honduras 

India 

Italy 

Japan 



1,139.2 

2,974.6 

261.0 

11.3 

708.1 

3,291.4 

44.0 

3,729.6 

292.4 

4,277.0 

435.2 

18.6 

45.8 

15.5 

118.6 

383.9 

207.1 

209.8 

41.5 

48.2 

11.0 

46.2 

1,773.0 

110.7 

147.6 



466.59 

365.42 

562.2 

717.15 

36.5 

315.5 

34.6 

431.5 

144.6 

294.0 

34.3 

10.3 

170.7 

170.8 

13.7 

156.5 

1,326.9 

2,403.3 

28.2 

14.5 

17.2 

3.3 

792.3 

483.2 

314 9 



330 



ELEMENTAEY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Statistics of the Principal Countries — {Continued) 



Year. 



1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1912 
1911 
1912 
1913 
1913 
1911 
1914 
1913 
1913 
1913 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1913 
1914 



Country. 



Korea 

Mexico 

Netherlands. . . . 
New Zealand . . . 

Nicaragua 

Norway 

Paraguay 

Persia 

Peru 

Portugal 

Rumania 

Russia 

Salvador 

Santo Domingo. . 

Serbia 

Siam 

Spain 

Sweden 

Switzerland 

Turkey 

United Kingdom 
United States . . . 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 



Area 
(in thou- 
sand sq. 
miles). 



84.1 
767.3 

13.1 
104.7 

49.5 
124.6 

97.7 
635.1 
683.3 

35.5 

53.9 

8,361.7 

8.1 

28.0 

33.7 
195.0 
194.7 
172.9 

15.9 

682.2 

121.3 

3,627.5 

72.1 
393.9 



Population 
(in thou- 
sands). 



15,164.0 

15,446.0 

6,213.0 

1,152.0 

690.0 

2,436.0 

800.0 

9,500.0 

5,800.0 

5,960.0 

7,602.0 

167,920.0 

1,210.0 

725.0 

4,622.0 

8,149.0 

19,944.0 

5,609.0 

3,781.0 

20,600.0 

46,036.0 

100,102.0 

1,226.0 

2,756.0 



Density 

(to the 

sq. mile). 



180.30 
20.13 



10.00 

13.93 

19.54 
8.19 

14.96 

8.49 

167.89 

141.14 

20.08 
148.1 

25.89 
137.12 

41.79 
102.39 

32.44 
236.97 

30.19 
379.47 

27.60 

16.99 
7.00 



Imports 
(in mil- 
lion 
dollars) . 



35.6 

93.0 

1,574.9 

691.5 

5.7 

148.0 

8.1 

46.9 

29.6 

80.5 

109.9 

603.4 

6.1 

9.2 

22.2 

33.8 

238.6 

226.8 

370.5 

193.0 

3,207.8 

1,893.9 

50.6 

17.0 



INDEX 



Acajutla, 255 

Acapulco, 251 

Acorns, 70, 242. 

Adelaide, 304. 

Aden, 300. 

Adriatic, 213, 214, 228. 

.^gean Sea, 240, 244. 

Africa, South, 317-321. See also 

South Africa. 
Africa, tropical, 315-317, 326. 
Agana, 152. 
Agave, 248. 
Aguadilla, 147. 
Alabama, 85, 102, 108, 136. 
Alaska, 74, 75, 125. 
Albany, N. Y., 141. 
Albany, W. Australia, 305. 
Alcohol, 63, 177, 221. 
Alewives, with map showing distri- 
bution, 75. 
Alexandria, 313. 
Alexandrovsk, 226. 
Alfa, 94-95. 
Alfalfa, 65. 
Alg£e, 74. 
Algeria, 314; map, 315. 

alfa, 94-95. 

tobacco, 187, 314. 

vegetables, 55, 314. 
Algiers, 315. 

map of harbor, 9. 
Alicante wine, 237. 
Alkmaar, 198. 
Almaden, 217, 238. 
Almonds, 57. 
Alpaca, map showing distribution of, 

26. 
Alpaca wool and cloth, 88, 171. 
Alps, 208, 229. 
Alsace-Lorraine, 192. 
Altitudes, diagram showing influence 

on temperature, 6. 
Aluminum, 119. 
Amapala, 254. 

Amazon, basin, 103, 259, 273, 326. 
Amazon river, 13, 260, 261. 



Ammonia, 110. 

Amsterdam, 122, 199, 200, 201. 

Amu Daria, 299. 

Anaconda, Mont., 118. 

Andes, 271. 

Angora goat and wool, 88, 318, 319. 

Aniline dyes, 103, 110. 

Germany, 182. 

Great Brita;"^, 172. 
Animals, domestic, 66-71, 80; map 
showing distribution of, 26. 

quality of British breeds, 168. 
Animals, draft, map showing distri- 
bution of, 26. 
Annam, 301. 
Antarctic Ocean, 14. 
Anthracite, 105, 108, 109. 
Antofagasta, 273. 

Antwerp, 81, 139, 179, 193, 197, 200. 
Appalachian coal-field, 108. 
Apples: 

Canada, 158. 

France, 188. 

Mexico, 247. 

Switzerland, 209. 

United States, 56. 
Arabia, 59. 

Archangel, 226. , 

Arctic Ocean, 14, 219, 225, 226. 
Ardennes, 183. 
Arecibo, 147. 
Argentina, 263-266. 

flax, 93, 265. 

map, 264. 

meat industry, 71, 263-265. 

ostrich farming, 81, 

statistics, 329. 

wheat, 265. 

wool industry, 87, 88, 89, 263. 
Arizona, 118. 
Arlberg, 210. 
Arrowroot, 57. 
Arroyo, 147. 
Ash, 96, 101. 
Ashio, 282. 
Asia Minor, 245-246, 319. 



331 



332 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Askabad, 299. 
Asphalt, 278-279. 
Astrakhan, 299. 
Athens, 244. 
Atlantic Ocean: 

its importance as a commercial 
highway, 13, 46, 86, 143. 
Attar of roses, 243. 
Auckland, 310. 
Australia, 303-308; maps, 304. 

commerce, 307-308. 

droughts, 304, 306. 

frozen meat industry, 304-306. 

mineral resources, 306-307. 

rabbits, 71, 80. 

sheep and wool, 303-304. 

statistics, 329. 
Austria-Hungary, 213-218. 

agriculture, 214-215. 

animal raising, 70, 215-216. 

commerce, 218. 

glass industry, 217. 

lack of national unity, 213. 

maps, 215, 217. 

mineral resources, 216, 217. 

statistics, 329. 

sugar-beet, 53, 214. 

wine industry, 215. 
Automobiles, 120, 128. 

Bahamas, 79, 278. 

Bahrein Islands, 249. 

Baku, 297, 299. 

Balkan peninsula, 240-246. 

Balsam of Peru, 254. 

Baltic Sea, 205, 206, 207, 223, 225, 

226. 
Baltimore, 118, 138, 139. 
Bamboo, 96, 286. 

Bananas, 56 ; map showing distribu- 
tion of, 59. 

Australia, 306. 

Central America, 254, 255, 256. 

Fiji Islands, 310. 

Hawaiian Islands, 151. 

Jamaica, 278. 

Tropical Africa, 316. 
Banda islands, 59. 
Bangkok, 301. 
Barbados, 278. 
Barcelona, 238. 

Barley, 48; diagram of world pro- 
duction, 48. 

Algeria, 314. 

Canada, 158. 

Great Britain, 166, 167. 

Mexico, 247. 

Rumania, 240. 

Russia, 221. 

Sweden, 202. 
'Barmen, 181. 



Barranquilla, 268. 
Barren Lands, 156. 
Basel, 210, 211. 
Batum, 298. 
Bavaria, 177-178. 
Bayonne, 183. 
Beans, 55, 315. 
Bear, 80, 222. 
Beaver, 222. 
Beechnuts, 70, 179, 242. 
Beef, 66-70; refrigeration and pre- 
serving, 66-67. 

Argentina, 67, 168, 263-265. 

Australia, 66, 168, 306. 

Brazil, 262. 

Cuba, 278. 

France, 188. 

Great Britain, 168. 

imports into Switzerland, 210. 

Peru, 271. 

United States, 67-70; export trade, 
71; map showing packing cen- 
ters 67. 

Uruguay, 67, 168, 266. 

Venezuela, 258. 
Beer, 63. 

Argentina, 265. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Denmark, 207. 

Germany, 63, 177-178. 

Great Britain, 63, 167. 

United States, 63. 
Behar, 291. 
Belfast, 169, 170, 172. 
Belgium, 193-197. 

agricultural map, 194. 

canals and railroad, 193-194. 

commerce, 197. 

flax and linen, 93, 196, 197. 

metal manufactures, 196. 

mineral resources, 107, 196. 

rabbits, 71. 

statistics, 329. 

textiles and other industries, 196- 
197; map showing distribution 
of, 195. 
Belgrade, 240, 242. 
Bengal, 290, 291. 
Bengal, Bay of, 291. 
Beni River, 273. 
Bent-wood furniture, 217. 
Benzene, 103. 
Berlin, 179, 180, 181. 
Bermuda, 55, 279. 
Bern, 211. 
Birch oil, 225. 

Birmingham, district, Ala., 114. 
Birmingham, district, England, 169. 
Birmingham, England, 165, 171, 172. 
Biscay, Bay of, 189. 
Bituminous coal, 105, 108, 109. 



INDEX 



333 



Black beans, 55, 247, 261. 
Blackburn, 171. 
Black-earth Land, 219, 220. 
Black Sea, 225, 226, 240. 
Bleiburg:, 217. 
Bluefields, river, 253. 
Bluefields. town, 255. 
Bluefish. 75. 
Bohemian glass, 217. 
Bokhara. 299. 
Bolivia, 272, 273; map, 273. 

tin. 118, 272. 
Bolton. 171. 
Bombay. 290, 291, 294. 
Boots and shoes: 

United States, 127; value of pro- 
duction in, 328. 
Borneo, gutta-percha, 104. 
Bosnia. 243; map. 241. 
Boston. 89. 127, 138, 139. 
Bothnia. Gulf of, 203. 
Bradford. England, 169, 171. 
Brahmaputra, 13, 289. 
Brandv. 63. 
Brass. 118. 
Brazil. 259-263. 

coffee, 59, 259, 261-262; map 
sho'SN'ing centers of production, 
260. 

diamonds, 122, 262. 

map. 260. 

cacao and mate, 62. 

rubber, 103, 259, 262. 

statistics, 329. 
Brazil nuts, 57, 262. 
Breadfruit, 57. 

map showing distribution of, 49. 
Bremen. 176. 
Bremerhaven, 176. 
Breslau. 179. 
Brick-tea. 60. 
Brie cheese, 72. 
Brimstone. 121. 
Brindisi. 229. 
Brisbane, 305. 
Bristles, 222. 

Bristol coal-field, with map, 169. 
British Columbia, 74. 160, 161. 
BritishJGuiana, 259; map, 258. 
British Honduras, 256. 
British West Indies, 278-279. 
Bruges, 193. 
Brussels, 193. 
Brussels lace, 197. 
Buccaneers. 24. 
Bucharest, 242. 
Buckwheat, 48. 

Budapest, 214, 216, 217, 240, 242. 
Buenos Aires, 260, 263, 265. 
Buffalo, 134, 140. 
Building stone, 121, 210. 



Bulgaria, 243; map, 241. 
Burma, 295-296. 

rice, 50, 291, 295. 

rubies, 122, 295-296. 
Burnley, 171. 
Butte, Mont., 118. 
Butter, 72-73. 

Belgium, 193. 

Canada, 158. 

Denmark, 72-73, 206, 207. 

Germany, 72, 179. 

Great Britain, 168; imports into, 
73. 

Mexico, 248-249. 

New Zealand, 309. 

Russia, 72, 222. 

Sweden, 202. 

Switzerland, 209. 

United States, 72. 

Cabinet woods, 102, 155, 248. 
Cables, ocean, 32-33. 
Cacao; map showing distribution of, 
58; diagram of world produc- 
tion, 60. 

Brazil, 263. 

Colombia, 268. 

Ecuador, 62, 270, 271. 

Guianas, 259. 

Mexico, 247. 

Venezuela, 257, 258, 259. 

West Indies, 274, 278. 
Cairo, Egypt, 313. 
Calcutta, 290, 294. 
California, 53, 62, 81, 130. 
California, Gulf of, 249. 
Cambodia, 301. 
Camels, 26, 121, 294, 299, 315. 
Camel's hair, 89. 
Campagna, 230. 
Camphor, 51, 283. 
Campine, 193, 196. 
Canada, 156-162. 

apples, 158. 

cattle, 71, 158. 

cheese, 73, 158. 

commerce, 162. 

division into regions, 156-157. 

fisheries, 74, 79, 158-159; map 
showing distribution of, 75. 

furs, 79, 159-160. 

lumber, 96, 102, 160. 

Inap, 157. 

mineral industries, 161. 

statistics, 329. 

wheat, 157-158. 
Canadian Canal, 136. 
Canals, ship, 13, 30-31, 217. 
Canary Islands, 166. 
Canterbury plain, 309-310. 
Canton, 284. 



334 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Caoutchouc. See India-rubber. 

Cape Breton Island, 161. 

Cape Colony, 317-319. 

Cape Town, 317, 318. 

Cape of Good Hope, 14, 31, 263. 

Caracas, 257 

Cardiff, 165, 169. 

Caribbean Sea, 138. 

Carolina, North, 64, 102, 108. 

Carpets and rugs: 

Austria-Hungary, 216. 

Bulgaria, 243. 

Great Britain, 171. 

Persia, 298. 

Russia, 298. 

Servia, 242, 

Turkey, 90, 245, 246. 

United States, 90; value of pro- 
duction, 328. 
Carrara marble, 229, 233. 
Cashmere goat, 89. 
Caspian Sea, 223, 225, 297, 298. 
Cassia, 59. 
Catania, 229. 

Cattle, 66; map showing distribu- 
bution of, 26. 

Argentina, 67, 263. 

Australia, 66, 306. 

Austria-Hungary, 214-216. 

Belgium, 196. 

Brazil, 262. 

Bulgaria, 243. 

Canada, 158. 

Central America, 256. 

Chile, 272. 

conditions promoting raising of, 
66. 

Denmark, 206, 207. 

France, 188. 

Germany, 178-179. 

Great Britain, 168. 

Hawaiian Islands, 151. 

India, 67, 293. 

Italy, 232. 

Japan, 281. 

Mexico, 248. 

Paraguay, 267. 

Peru, 271. 

Porto Rico, 148. 

Russia, 220, 222, 297, 299. 

Servia, 242. 

South Africa, 319. 

Spain, 237. 

Sweden, 202. 

Switzerland, 208, 209-210. 

The Netherlands, 198. 

United States, 67-68; map, 67. 

Uruguay, 67, 266. 

Venezuela, 257, 258. 
Caucasia, 297-298; maps, 220 and 
299. 



Cayenne, 259. 

Cayenne pepper, 57. 

Cebu, 154. 

Ceiba, 254. 

Central America, 252-256. 

impediments to commerce, 252- 
254. 
Central America, map, 253. 
products, 255-256. 
seaports, 254-255. 
statistics, 322, 325. 
See also Guatemala, Honduras, 
Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa 
Rica. 
Central coal-field, 108, 
Cereals, 38-50. 

See also Wheat, Maize, Oats, Rye, 
Rice, Barley, Buckwheat, Mil- 
let. 
Ceylon: 

cinnamon, 57, 296. 
quinin, 104. 
tea, 60-61, 284, 296. 
Champerico, 254. 

Charcoal, countries using it for 
smelting iron, 204, 216, 222, 224. 
Charleston, S. C, 84. 
Cheese, 72. 

Canada, 73, 158. 
Denmark, 206. 
France, 72, 189. 
Great Britain, 168. 
Italy, 72, 232. 
New Zealand, 309. 
Russia, 222. 
Switzerland, 72, 209. 
The Netherlands, 198. 
United States, 72. 
Chemical industries: 
Germany, 23, 182. 
Great Britain, 172. 
Chemistry, its relation to industries, 

23-24. 
Chemnitz, 179, 181. 
Cherbourg, 9. 

Chesapeake Bay, 75, 77, 78. 
Chestnuts, 57, 232. 
Chicago, 68, 99, 114, 127, 132, 136, 

140, 141. 
Chih-h, Gulf of, 9. 
Chile, 272-274; map, 264. 
climate, 272. 
manufactures, 274. 
nitrate of soda, 273-274. 
statistics, 329. 
Chile pepper, 57. 
China, 283-288; map, 285. 
cotton, 284-286. 
manufacture of firecrackers, 286- 

287. 
minerals, 286. 



INDEX 



335 



china, rice, 283. 

silk. 92, 284. 

statistics, 323, 325. 

tea, 60, 284, 288. 
China grass, 95, 285. 
Chocolate, 62. 
Christchurch, 309. 
Christiania, 203, 205. 
Cimarron River, 68. 
Cinchona-tree, 51, 104. 
Cincinnati, 141. 
Cinnamon, 57-59. 
Citrus fruits. 232. 
Ciudad Juarez, 251. 
Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, 251. 
Civita Vecchia, 229. 
Clay, 121-122. 
Cleveland, 129, 140. 
Climate, 5-7. 

arctic, 5-6. 

rainfall, 7; map showing annual 
amount of, 8. 

temperate, 6. 

tropical. 5. 
Clocks, 211. 
Cloth, most important fibers used in 

making clothes, 82. 
Cloves, 59. 

Clyde coal-field, with map, 169, 170. 
Clyde river, 172. 

Coal, 105-110; map showing world 
distribution, 106; diagram of 
production, 107. 

Australasia, 307, 309. 

Austria-Hungary, 107, 216, 218; 
map, 217. 

Belgium, 107, 196. 

Canada, 161, 326. 

Chile, 274. 

China, 107, 286. 

France, 189-190. 

Germany, 107, 178. 179; map, 178. 

Great Britain, 107, 108-109. 169- 
170; map showing fields of, 
169. 

importing countries, 108, 152, 200, 
211, 262, 263, 265, 278. 

Japan, 282. 

Mexico, 250. 

Russia, 107, 222, 224; map, 223. 

Spain, 238. 

Switzerland, 210. 

United States, 107, 109; map 
showing coal-fields, 108. 
Coal-gas, 109-110. 
Coal-tar, 110. 
Coasts, 7, 9. 
Cobalt, 310. 
Coca, 271. 
Cocain, 271. 
Cochin-China, 50, 301. 



Cocoa, 62. 

Cocoanuts and copra, 57; map show- 
ing distribution of, 39. 

Oceania, 152, 310, 311. 

Philippine Islands, 154, 155. 
Cod, 74. 

Canada, 74, 159; map, 75. 

France, 189. 

Newfoundland, 74, 162. 

Norway, 74, 204; map, 76. 

The Netherlands, 199. 

United Kingdom, 168. 

United States, 74; map, 75. 
Coffee, 59-60; map showing distri- 
bution of, 58; diagram of world 
production, 60. 

Asiatic Turkey, 59, 246. 

Brazil, 59, 259, 261-262. 

Central America, 254, 255-256. 

Colombia, 268. 

consumption in United States, 59, 
144. 

Guianas, 259. 

Haiti, 278. 

Hawaiian Islands, 148. 

India, 59. 

Java, 59, 201, 302. 

Mexico, 247. 

Porto Rico, 147-149. 

Sumatra, 59, 302. 

Tropical Africa, 316. 
Cohoes, N. Y., 90. 
Coke, 110-112. 
Cold storage, importance of, 55, 68. 

See also Refrigeration. 
Colima, 251. 
Colombia, 268-270; map, 269. 

emeralds, 122. 

mines, 327. 

vegetable ivory, 81. 
Colonies, 36. 

commercial advantages to mother 
countries, 36, 163, 198, 302. 

map showdng distribution of, 35. 
Colonial products, 36. 

in Netherlands trade, 201. 
Commerce, defined, 1. 

conditions affecting, 2-4, 5-36, 
235-236, 252-253. 

effect of geographic position on, 
149, 163, 174, 183, 212, 226, 228, 
240, 275, 288. 

importance of labor-saving de- 
vices, 20-22. 

importance of transportation, 22, 
25-32, 267, 268. 

influence of climate on, 5-7. 

influence of governments on, 24, 
240, 245, 251-252. 

influence of topography on, 7-16, 
202. 



336 



ELEMENTAKY COMMEKCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Commerce, map showing chief re- 
gions of, Fig. 1. 
parallel between domestic and for- 
eign, 1-2. 
rapid growth of, 144-145. 
statistics of, 329, 330. 
Commercial geography, defined, 4. 
Como, 233. 
Congo, basin, 316. 
Congo, Belgian, 81, 197. 
Congo, river, 12, 13, 28, 316. 
Conneaut, 114. 
Connecticut, 118. 
Connecticut river, 75. 
Constantinople, 240, 242, 245. 
Consuls, 36. 
Copenhagen, 176, 207 
Copper, 117-118; map showing dis- 
tribution of, 106. 
Austria-Hungary, 217. 
Bolivia, 272. 
Canada, 161* 
Chile, 274. 
Japan, 282. 
Peru, 271. 
Portugal, 239. 
Russia, map showing distribution 

of, 223. 
Spain, 118, 238. 
Sweden and Norway, 203, 204. 
United States, 117-118; map 
showing shipping ports, 113. 
Copra, 57. 
Ceylon, 296. 
Oceania. 152, 310, 311. 
The Philippines, 154, 155. 
Coral, 233. 

Cordilleras, 263, 265, 271. 
Corinth Canal, with map, 244. 
Cork and cork-tree, 51, 104, 237, 239, 

314. 
Corn Belt, 45. 
Cornwall, 118, 170. 
Costa Rica, 254-256; map, 253. 
Cotton, 82-86; map showing distri- 
bution of, 39; statistics of 
world's consumption, 84; cot- 
ton-gin, 20. 
Asiatic Turkey, 246. 
Australia, 306. 

Brazil, 84-85, 86, 261, 262; rnap 
showing centers of production, 
260. 
Egypt, 84, 86, 312, 313. _ 
imports into Great Britain and 
continental Europe, 85-86, 181, 
182, 192. 
India, 84, 86, 280-281, 291. 
Japan, 280. 
Mexico, 247. 
Persia, 298. 



Cotton, Peru, 84, 271. 

Russian Central Asia, 298, 299. 

United States, 83-84; map show- 
ing distribution of 83; exports 
85-86. 
Cotton manufactures: 

Argentina, 265. 

Austria-Hungary, 216. 

Belgium, 196-197. 

Central America, 256. 

comparison with woolen cloths, 90. 

France, 191. 

Germany, 87, 180-182. 

Great Britain, 86, 87, 170-171. 

imports into China, 284-286. 

India, 293, 295. 

Italy, 234. 

Japan, 280-281. 

Mexico, 247, 250. 

Russia, 87, 225, 227. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

Servia, 242. 

Sweden and Norway, 205. 

Switzerland, 211. 

United States, 86-87; map show- 
ing centers of, 83; number of 
spindles, 86; statistics, 328. 
Cotton-seed, 93. 
Cottonseed-oil, 93. 
Courtrai, 197. 
Coventry, 171. 
Cowrie shells, 34. 
Cracow, 214. 
Crefeld, 93. 
Creoles, 146. 
Creuzot, Le, 190. 
Cuba, 275-278; map, 277. 

statistics, 329. 

sugar, 53, 150, 275. 

tobacco, 64, 275-277. 
Cumberland Canal, 137. 
Cumberland coal-field, with map, 

169. 
Curagao, 200. 
Currants, 56, 244. 

Currents, ocean, influence on naviga- 
tion, 15. 

map showing direction of, 111. 
Cutlery: 

Germany, 180 

Great Britain, 172. 

Italy, 234. 
Cuyaba, 260. 
Cuxhaven, 175, 176. 

Dairy products, 71-73. 

See also Milk, Butter, Cheese, 
Oleomargarine, Kumiss. 
Dakotas, 41, 324. 
Dan River, 108. 
Danish West Indies, 36, 207. 



INDEX 



337 



Dannemora, 204. 

Danube, 12, 214, 217, 240, 242, 

243. 
Danzig, 176, 214. 
Darling River, 303. 
Date Line, map, Fig. 1. 
Dates, oG; map showing distribu- 
tion of, 49. 

Africa. 314. 315, 31G. 

Asia. 24G, 298. 
Deep River, 108. 
Delft earthenware, 200. 
Delaware, 125. 

Delaware, river, 12, 75, 136-137. 
Deltas, 12. 
Denmark. 206-207. 

butter. 72-73, 206. 

colonies. See Faroe Islands, Ice- 
land, Greenland, Danish West 
Indies. 

commerce, 207. 

eggs, 74, 207. 

horses and cattle, 80, 206. 

map, 203. 

statistics, 329. 
Denver. 141. 
Derby hat, to illustrate subdivision 

of labor, 22. 
Deseronto, 160. 

Desert regions, map showing loca- 
tion of, 97. 
Detroit, 136, 140. 
Devon, 170. 

Diamonds, 122; map showing min- 
ing centers of. 111. 

Brazil, 262. 

Cape Colony, 319. 
Diamond cutting. 200. 
Dog, as beast of burden, 26, 27. 
Dogger Banks, 74, 168. 
Dolhain, 197. 
Don river, 223. 
Donetz coal-field, 222. 
Donkevs. 26. 

Italy. 232. 

Spain, 237. 
Douglas fir, 101, 160. 
Downs, 66. 
Drave, river, 217. 
Dromedary. 26. 
Drv farming, 324. 
Duluth, 131, 1.34, 136, 140. 
Dundee, 79, 95. 
Dunedin. 309. 
Durham-Northumberland coal-field, 

with map. 169. 
Dutch East Indies. 301. 
Dutch Guiana, 259; map, 258. 
Dyestuffs, 103. 
Dves, aniline, 103, 110. 

Germany, 182. 



Dyes, Great Britain, 172. 
Dyewoods, 36, 103. 

Mexico, 248. 

Philippine Islands, 155. 

East Liverpool, Ohio, 122. 

Ebony, 102. 

Ecuador, 270-271; map, 269. 

Cacao, 62, 270. 

Panama hats, 270. 

quinin, 104. 

statistics, 329. 

vegetable ivory, 81. 
Edam cheese, 72, 198. 
Eger, 217. 
Eggs: 

Austria-Hungary, 214, 216. 

China, 286. 

Denmark, 74, 207. 

France, 189. 

imports into Great Britain, 74, 
168. 

Italy, 235. 

Russia, 74, 168, 226. 

United States, 73. 
Egypt, 312-313. 

cotton, 84, 312, 313. 

Egyptian cigarettes, 312. 

statistics, 329. 
Eider-duck down, 207. 
Elba, island, 229, 233 
Elbe, river, 12, 175, 176, 214. 
Elberfeld, 181. 
Elephant, 26, 294. 
Elm, 96, 101. 
Emeralds, 122. 

England. See United Kingdom. 
Enghsh Channel, 183, 189. 
Erie Canal, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141. 
Erie, Lake, 113, 114. 
Erivan, 298. 
Eskimos, 17. 

Esparto, 94-95. See also Alfa. 
Essen, 180. 
Estuaries, 12. 

Fairs, 33. 

in Russia, 225. 

Fajardo, 147. 

Falun, 204. 

Faroe Islands, 207. 

Ferghana plain, 299. 

Fezes, 245. 

Fibers, 82-95. 

See also Cotton, Wool, Silk, Flax, 
Hemp,Henequen, Manila hemp, 
Jute, Esparto, Ramie, Phor- 
mium. 

Figs, 56, 213. 

Fiji Islands, 310. 

Filberts, 57. 



338 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Fir, 97, 101, 202. 
Fisheries, 74-79. 

Canada, 74, 158-159; map, 75. 

Chile, 272. 

China, 286. 

France, 74, 189. 

Great Britain, 77, 168-169. 

Italy, 228, 233. 

Japan, 282. 

map showing sea fisheries of west- 
ern Europe, 76. 

Mexico, 249. 

Newfoundland, 74, 79, 162. 

Norway, 74, 204, 237. 

Oceania, 311. 

Portugal, 238, 
Fisheries, Russia, map showing dis- 
tribution of, 220. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

Spain, 237. 

The Netherlands, 199. 

United States, 74-79; map, 75. 
Fish consumption in Catholic coun- 
tries, 74, 159, 162, 169. 
Fiume, 214. 
Flax, 93. 

Argentina, 93, 265. 

Belgium, 93, 196. 

Great Britain, 168. 

Italy, 231. 

Russia, 93, 171, 221. 
Flemings, 193. 
Flora, map showing distribution of, 

97. 
Florence, 228. 
Florida, 55, 57, 75, 79, 81. 
Food products: 

animal, 66-79. 

importing countries, 43, 148-149, 
162, 166-167, 186, 195-196, 197, 
206, 207, 208, 210, 258, 261, 278. 

vegetable, 38-63. 
Forest products, 96-104. 

great importance of industry, 96. 

See Lumber, Timber, Cabinet 
Woods, Rubber, Turpentine, 
Tar, Resin, Dyestuffs, Quinin, 
Cork, Gutta-percha, Wood 
Pulp. 
Forests, 96-98; map showing dis- 
tribution of, 97. 

Austria-Hungary, 216. 

Canada, 96, 160. 

Chile, 274. 

Nicaragua, 254. 

Peru, 271. 

Philippine Islands, 155. 

protection of, 98. 

Russia, 96, 221-222. 

Sweden and Norway, 202-204. 

United States, 96, 98, 99, 101. 



Forests. See Timber, Lumber, and 

other forest products. 
Formosa, 61, 283. 
Fort Worth, Tex., 68, 141. 
Forwarding trade, 183-185, 200-201, 

207, 212, 228, 291, 300. 
Fox, 80. 
France, 183-192. 

alimentary pastes, 186-187. 

agriculture, 185-188; map, 187. 

fisheries, 74, 189. 

colonies. See Algeria, Tunis, Indo- 
China, Guiana, West Indies, 
Madagascar, Sudan, New Cale- 
donia, Mauritius, Reunion, etc. 

commerce, 192. 

leather, porcelain, and other man- 
ufactures, 117, 128, 191-192. 

map showing distribution of in- 
dustries, 184. 

minerals, 107, 108, 189-192. 

silk and other textiles, 90, 92, 93, 
191. 

statistics, 329. 

sugar-beet industry, 53, 187-188. 

tobacco monopoly, 187. 

wheat, 192 

wine industry, 62, 188; map 
showing distribution of, 189. 
Eraser River, 159. 
Frederickton, N. B., 160. 
Free ports, 176, 207. 
Freights: 

causes that cheapen rates, 30-32. 

effect of cheap rates, 3, 22, 30, 32, 
67-68, 181. 

low rates in United States, 130, 
131. 
Fremantle, 305. 

French Guiana, 259; map, 258. 
Frijole, 55, 247. 
Fruits, 55-56. 

Austria-Hungary, 213. 

Bulgaria, 243. 

France, 188. 

Furness, 169. 

Italy, 232. 

Portugal, 239. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

Spain, 237. 

Switzerland, 209. 

Turkey, 245. 

West Indies and South America, 
148, 256, 267, 272, 274, 278. 
Furniture : 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Canada, 161. 

Sweden and Norway, 205. 

United States, 102. 
Furs, 79-80. 

Canada, 159-160. 



INDEX 



339 



Furs, principal ma^-kets, 80. 
Russia, 79. 80, 222. 
Siberia, 79, 296. 

Galatz, 242. 
Galena-Joplin, 119. 
Galicia, 217. 
Galveston, 132, 139. 
Ganges, 13, 94, 289, 291. 
Gasolene. 120. 
Geelong. 304. 
Gefle, 203, 204. 
Gellivare. 6. 204. 
Geneva, 210, 211. 
Geneva, lake, 210. 
Genoa, 210. 212, 229. 
Georgetown, 259. 
Georgia, 102. 
Georgia pines, 101. 
German West Africa, 318. 
Germany, 174-182. 

animal industries, 178-179. 

beer making, 63, 177-178. 

favorable position for commerce, 
174. 

foreign commerce, 182. 

hops, 63, 178. 

imports of foodstuffs, 177, 182. 

iron and steel manufactures, 180. 

maps, 175, 178, 181. 

minerals. 107, 178, 179-180. 

navigation. 175, 179. 

potato culture, 55, 177. 

railroads, 181. 

statistics, 329. 

sugar-beet, 53, 177, 178; map 
showing distribution of culture, 
178. 

textiles, leather, chemicals, and 
other manufactures, 180-182. 
Ghent, 193, 196, 197. 
Gibaros, 147. 
Gin, 63. 
Ginger, 59. 
Girgenti, 229. 
Gironde, river, 12, 183. 
Glasgow, 165, 170. 
Glass and glassware: 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Belgium, 129, 197. 

Germany, 129. 

Great Britain, 129, 172. 

Italy, 234. 

Spain, 238. 

United States, 129. 
Gloucester, 74, 79. 
Gloves : 

France. 128, 191. 

Luxemburg. 198. 
Goats, 188, 209, 233, 237, 244, 293, 
316, 319. 



Goatskins, 128, 272, 315. 
Gobi, 7. 

Gold, 116-117; map showing dis- 
tribution of, 106; coinage, 117. 

Australia, 116, 306. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Canada, 116, 161. 

Chile, 274. 

Dutch East Indies, 302. 

Guianas, 259. 

Honduras, 256. 

Madagascar, 317. 

Mexico, 250. 

New Zealand, 309. 

Philippine Islands, 155. 

Russia, 116, 297; map showing 
distribution of, 223. 

South Africa, 319, 320. 

United States, 116. 

Venezuela, 259. 
Gold-leaf, 117. 

Gold and silver wares, 117, 192. 
Goodyear, Charles, 103. 
Goteborg, 203, 205. 
Governments, influence on com- 
merce and industry, 24, 240, 
243, 245, 251-252. 
Government monopoly, 65, 187, 215, 

292 
Gran Chaco, 263. 
Grand Banks, 30, 74, 75. 
Grand Rapids, 102. 
Granite, 121. 

Grapes, 55, 158, 188, 215, 232, 
237, 244, 303, 306, 318. See 
Wine. 
Graphite, 296. 

Grass lands, map showing distribu- 
tion of, 97. 
Grass-seed oil, 226. 
Great Barrier Reef, 305. 
Great Britain and Ireland. See 

United Kingdom. 
Great Lakes, 31, 42, 77, 98, 129, 134- 

136, 137, 140, 158, 159. 
Greece, 243, 244. 

currants, 244. 

map, 241. 

statistics, 329. 
Greenland, 75, 207. 
Greytown, 255. 
Ground nuts, 57, 316. 
Gruyfere cheese, 72. 
Guam, 152. 
Guano, 271. 

fish, 75. 
Guatemala, 254-256; map, 253; 

statistics, 329. 
Guaymas, 251. 
Guavaquil, 270. 
Guayaquil, Gulf of, 270. 



340 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Guianas, 259; map, 258. 
Gums, 102-103. 
Gunny bags, 94, 291. 
Gutta-percha, 104, 302. 
Gypsum, 148. 

Hague, The, 200. 
Haiti, 275, 278. 

Halibut, with map showing distribu- 
tion of, 75, 159. 
Halifax, England, 171. 
Halifax, N. S., 162. 
Hamburg, 14, 175-176; map of port, 

176. 
Hamilton, Ontario, 162. 
Harbors, types of, 7-9. 
Harz mountains. 178. 
Havana, 277-278. 
Havana tobacco, 64. 
Havre, 183, 185. 
Hawaiian Islands, 149-152. 

advantageous situation, 149. 

cane-sugar, 53, 150-151. 

map, 150. 
Hay, 65, 206, 209. 
Hemlock, 99, 101, 160. 
Hemlock bark, 51, 101. 
Hemp, 94, 221, 231. 
Hemp-seed oil, 93. 
Henequen, 94, 247-248. 
Herring, 75-77; maps showing dis- 
tribution of, 75, 76. 

Canada, 159. 

Great Britain, 77, 168-169. 

Norway, 77, 204. 

The Netherlands, 199. 

United States, 76-77. 
Herzegovina, 243; map, 241. 
Hides, 127, 128. 

Africa, 317, 321. 

Argentina, 127, 265. 

Balkan peninsula, 242, 243, 245. 

Brazil, 263. 

Central America, 254-255. 

Cuba, 278. 

Ecuador, 270. 

India, 295. 

Mexico, 248, 251. . 

New Zealand, 310. 

Paraguay, 267. 

Peru, 271. 

Russia, 222. 

Uruguay, 127, 

Venezuela, 258. 
Hilo, 150. 
Himalayas, 289. 
Hiogo, 281. 
Hodeida, 246. 
Holland gin, 200. 
Holyoke, Mass., 95. 
Hongkong, 155, 288, 300, 301. 



Honduras, 254-256; map, 253; sta- 
tistics, 329. 
Honduras, British, 256. 
Honolulu, 149, 150. 
Hops, 63. 

Austria- Hungary, 217. 

Germany, 178. 

Great Britain, 167. 

United States, 63. 
Horses, 26, 27; map showing distri- 
bution of, 26. 

Austria-Hungary, 215. 

Denmark, 80, 206. 

Germany, 80, 178. 

Great Britain, 168. 

Italy, 232. 

Russia, 80, 215, 222. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

Spain, 237. 

The Netherlands, 198. 
Huanchaca, 273. 
Huddersfield, 171. 
Hudson, 134. 
Hudson river, 75, 136. 
Hull, 165. 
Hungary. See Austria-Hungary. 

Iceland, 75, 89, 199, 207. 

Idria, 217. 

Illinois, 45, 108, 126. 

Ilo-ilo, 154. 

India, 289-296. 

agriculture, 289-292; map showing 
distribution of, 290, 294. 

commerce, 294-295. 

irrigation, 289, 291. 

manufactures, 293-294. 

statistics, 329. 

tea, 60-61, 284, 292. 
India-rubber, 103-104. 

Africa, 103. 

Bolivia, 273. 

Brazil, 103, 259, 262, 263. 

Central America, 256. 

Guianas, 259. 

imports into United States, 103. 

Mexico, 247. 

Peru, 271. 

Tropical Africa, 316. 
Indian Ocean, 13-14, 75. 
Indianapolis, 132, 141. 
Indiana, 45, 108. 
Indigo, 103, 254, 291-292. 
Indo-China, French, 301. 

teak wood, 96. 
Indo-Europeans, 19-20. 
Indus, 13, 289. 
Indus, basin, 291. 
Industry, danger of reliance on a 

single, 53, 151. 
Ionian Sea, 244. 



INDEX 



341 



Iowa, 45. 
Ipecac, 51. 
Iquitos, 260. 
Irawadi, 13, 289, 296. 
Ireland. See United Kingdom. 
Iron, 112-116; map showing distri- 
bution of, 111 ; diagram of world 
production, 113. 

Algeria, 170 

Austria-Hungary, 216. 

Belgium, 196. 

Brazil, 262. 

China, 286. 

Cuba, 277. 

France, 190. 

Germany, 115, 179. 

Great Britain, 115, 116, 169, 
170. 

Italy, 233. 

Japan, 282. 

Luxemburg, 196, 198. 

Mexico, 250; map, 249. 

Philippine Islands, 155. 

Russia, 222-224; map, 223. 

Spain, 116, 169, 170, 179, 238; 
map showing mining centers, 
236. 

Sweden, 116, 179, 203, 204. 

Switzerland, 210. 

United States, 112-115; maps of 
mining centers, 113, 114, 115; 
map showing shipping routes, 
114. 
Iron manufactures: 

Belgium, 196. 

Chile, 274. 

France, 190. 

Germany, 180. 

Great Britain, 169, 171-172. 

Russia, 225. 

Switzerland, 211. 

United States, 127, 128-129; 
value, 328. 
Irrigation, 38, 48. 

Australia, 306. 

India, 289, 291. 

Italy, 228, 230. 

Mexico, 247. 

Persia, 298. 

Russian Central Asia, 298, 299. 

South Africa, 317. 

Spain, 235, 236. 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, railroad of, 

256. 
Italy, 228-235. 

agriculture, 228, 230, 231-232. 

commerce, 234-235. 

consumption of quinin, 104. 

coral industry, 233, 234. 

fisheries, 228, 233. 

irrigation, 228, 230. 



Italy, maps, 229, 230, 231. 

marble quarries, 233. 

raw-silk, production, 91, 232-233. 

statistics, 329. 

sulphur, 121, 229, 233. 

wine industry, 62, 232. 
Ivory, 81, 197, 313, 316. 
Ivory, vegetable, 81. 

Jamaica, 59. 

Japan, 280-283; map, 281. 

commerce, 282-283. 

fisheries, 282. 

rice, 280. 

silk, 92, 281-282, 283. 

statistics, 329. 

tea, 61, 280, 281, 283. 
Jarrah wood, 306. 
Java, 302. 

cinnamon, 57. 

coffee, 59, 201, 302. 

quinin, 104, 198, 302. 

rice, 50. 

sugar-cane, 53, 198, 302. 
Jemmapes, 197. 
Jerez 237 

Jerked beef, 67, 262, 265, 266, 278. 
Jerusalem, 33. 
Johannesburg, 319. 
Jujuy, 273. 
Juniper-berrv, 63. 
Jura Mountains, 208, 210. 
Jute, 94, 291. 
Jute manufactures: 

Germany, 182. 

Great Britain, 94, 171. 

India, 291. 
Jutland peninsula, 206. 

Kalaupapa, 150. 
Kalawao, 150. 
Kansas, 41, 45, 119. 
Kansas City, 68, 131, 141. 
Kaolin, 121-122, 282. 
Karachi, 290, 291, 294. 
Karri wood, 306. 
Karroo, 81, 319. 
Kauri gum, 309, 310. 
Kauri wood, 309. 
Kazanlik, 243. 
Kennebec, river, 75. 
Kentucky, 64, 108. 
Kerosene, 120-121. 

Russia, 120, 121, 217, 297-298. 

United States, 120, 121; value of 
production, 328. 

See also Petroleum. 
Key West, 79, 277. 
Kharkof. 225. 
Khartum, 313. 
Khiva. 299. 



342 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Kid-skins, 128, 209, 233. 

Kief, 225. 

Kimberley, Cape Colony, 122, 319. 

Kingston, Ontario, 162. 

Kioto, 281. 

Kiusiu, 282. 

Kobe, 281. ■ 

Kokan, 299. 

Korea, 301. 

Krasnovodsk, 299. 

Krefeld, 181. 

Krupp works, 180. 

Kumiss, 72. 

Kungchow, 286. 

La Guaira, 257. 
La Libertad, 255. 
La Paz, 273. 

La Plata, River, 13, 265. 
Labor-saving devices, their immense 
importance, 20-22 41-43, 107, 
113, 126. 
Labor, subdivision of, 22. 
Labrador, 79. 
Labrador current, 74. 
Laces, 92. 

Belgium, 197. 

Great Britain, 169. 

Italy, 234. 

Switzerland, 211. 
Lambskins, 128. 
Lanai, 150. 
Lancashire, 169, 170. 
Lancashire coal-field, with map, 169. 
Lands, cultivable, map showing dis- 
tribution of, 97. 
Le Creuzot, 190. 

Lead, map showing distribution of, 
106. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Greece, 244. 

Mexico, 119, 250. 

Russia, map showing distribution 
of. 223. 

Spain, 119; map showing mining 
centers, 236. 

United States, 119. 
Leather and leather wares, 127-128. 

Argentina, 265. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Balkan States, 243, 245. 

Canada, 160, 161. 

Denmark, 207. 

France, 128, 191. 

Germany, 182. 

Great Britain, 172. 

Peru, 271. 

Russia, 225. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

United States, 127-128. 
Leeds, 165, 169, 171. 



Leghorn, 229. 
Lehigh, river, 108. 
Leipzig, 80. 
Lemons, 56, 232, 247. 
Lena, river, 296, 297. 
Levant, 245. 
Licata, 229. 
Liege, 196, 197. 
Lignite, 105, 178, 233. 
Lille, 183, 190, 191. 
Lily bulbs, 279. 
Limburg, 197. 
Limestone, 114, 121, 170. 
Linens : 

Belgium, 93, 197. 

France, 93, 191. 

Great Britain, 93, 171. 

Italy, 234. 

Russia, 225. 

Sweden and Norway, 205. 
Linseed, 93, 265-267. 
Linseed-oil, 93, 226, 265. 
Liverpool, 139, 164-165,169,171,304. 
Livingston, 254. 
Llama, 26, 27, 272. 
Llanos, 257, 269; map showing dis- 

bribution of, 97. 
Lobsters, 79. 

Canada, 159, 160. 
Locomotives and steam-engines 

Chile, 274. 

Germany, 180. 

Great Britain, 169, 172. 

United States, 128. 
Lodz, 225. 

Lofoten Islands, 74, 204. 
Logwood, 103, 278. 
Loire, river, 183. 

Lombardy, 229, 230-231, 232, 233. 
London, 14, 80, 109, 122, 163-164, 

169. 
Long Island Sound, 77. 
Lorenzo Marquez, 317. 
Lorraine, 191. 
Los Angeles, 131. 
Louisiana, 50, 53, 102. 
Louisville, 141. 
Liibeck, 175. 
Ludwig Canal, 240. 
Lulea, 204. 
Lumber, 98-101; trade in, 101-102. 

Austria-Hungary, 101, 216. 

Canada, 102, 160. 

Chile, 272, 274. 

countries importing lumber and 
timber, 98, 101, 102, 166-167, 
188, 197, 201, 207, 232, 238, 248, 
278, 286, 306. 

Germany, 98, 174. 

Norway and Sweden, 101-102, 
202-204. 



INDEX 



343 



Lumber. Russia, 96, 101, 221-222, 
290, 297. 
United States, 98-101; map show- 
ing centers of industry, 99; 
trade in, 102; value of produc- 
tion, 328. 

Lumber manufactures, 102. 

Luxemburg, 196, 198. 

Luzern, 210. 

Luzon, 64, 154. 

Lynn, Mass., 127. 

Lynx, 222. 

Lyons, 93. 

Lys River, 93. 

Lyttleton, 309. 

Maas, river, 200. 
Macaroni. 186-187. 
Macclesfield, 171. 
Mace, 59. 
Machinery : 

Austria-Hungary, 216. 

Belgium, 196. 

Germanv. 180. 

Great Britain, 169, 172. 

Italy, 233. 

Switzerland. 211, 212. 

United States, 128. 
Mackerel. 77, 204; maps showing 

distribution of, 75, 76. 
Madagascar, 316-317. 
Madras, 290, 294. 
Magdalena, river. 268. 
Magellan, Straits of, 31. 
Mahogany, 102. 247, 248, 254-255. 
Main, river, 240. 
Maine, 75, 76, 77, 85. 
Maize, 45-46; map showing distri- 
bution of, 44; diagram of pro- 
duction, 45. 

Argentina, 46, 265. 

Australia, 303. 

Austria-Hungary, 214. 

Bulgaria, 243. 

Italy, 45, 46, 231. 

Mexico, 247. 

Rumania, 45-46, 240. 

Russia, 46. 

Servia, 242. 

Spain, 237. 

United States, 45-46. 
Malaga wine, 237. 

Malay archipelago, 57, 104, 152, 301. 
Malmo, 203. 
Manaos, 260, 262. 
Manchester, 165, 169, 171. 
Manchuria, 288. 
Mandalay, 296. 
Manila, 132, 154, 155. 
Manila hemp, 94, 154, 155. 
Manila paper, 94. 



Manioc, 51, 316. 
Manitoba, 156, 158. 
Manua group, 152. 
Manufactures: 

causes influencing distribution of, 

124-126. 
conditions that give manufactur- 
ing preeminence in United 
States, 123, 126. 
countries noted for excellent qual- 
ity of , 191, 192, 211, 212. 
impediments to, 216, 233, 240, 

242, 243-244. 
importance of coal, iron, and their 
proximity, 107, 126, 169, 170, 
179, 190, 196, 198, 204, 206-207, 
208, 216, 262. 
importance of labor-saving de- 
vices, 20-22, 107, 113, 12G, 127. 
influence of governments on, 24, 

224, 245, 251-252. 
influence of progress in chemistry, 

23. 
profits on, 123. 
Manzanillo, 251. 
Maple, 101. 
Maple-sugar, 54. 
Maracaibo, 257, 268. 
Marble, Carrara, 233. 

Vermont, 121. 
Maremma, 230. 
Marsala, 229. 
Marseilles, 57, 183-185, 212, 229, 

314, 315. 
Marten, 80. 
Maryland, 125. 
Massachusetts, 127, 146. 
Matanzas, 275, 278. 
Mate, 62, 267; map showing distri- 
bution of, 58. 
Matto Grosso, 260. 
Mayaguez, 147. 
Mazatlan, 251. 

Meat, 66; refrigerating and preserv- 
ing, 66-67. 
Argentina, 71, 263, 265. 
Australia, 304-305. 
Canada, 158. 
Denmark, 207. 
France, 188. 
Germany, 179. 
Great Britain, 168. 
Russia, 222. 

United States, 66, 67-70; export 
trade, 71; value of production, 
328. 
Uruguay, 266. 
Mecca, 33. 
Mechlin lace, 197. 

Mediterranean lands, 56, 57, 104, 
232. 



344 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Mediterranean Sea, 46, 79, 235. 

Meerschaum, 246. 

Melbourne, 304, 305, 306, 307. 

Memphis, 101, 132, 141. 

Menam, River, 301. 

Menam River, valley, 301 . 

Menhaden, 75. 

Merchant marine, statistics of, 324. 

Merida, 251. 

Merinos and merino wool, 90, 237, 

303. 
Mersey, 165. 
Merv oasis, 299. 
Messina, 229. 
Meuse, river, 200. 
Mexico, 247-252. 

agriculture, 247-248. 

agricultural map, 248 . 

commerce, 251-252. 

map of railroads, 251. 

showing mining centers, 249. 

minerals, 249-250. 

statistics, 330. 
Mexico, city, 250. 
Mexico, Gulf of, 42, 132, 138. 
Michigan, 53, 99, 108, 125. 
Michigan, Lake, 113, 114. 
Milan, 210, 229, 233, 234. 
Milk, 71-72. 
Millet, 50, 291. 
Milwaukee, 114, 140. 
Minerals, 105-122; map showing 
distribution of, 106, 111. 

See Iron, Coal, Gold, Silver, Cop- 
per, Petroleum, Salt, Brass, 
Zinc, Lead, Tin, Aluminum, 
Sulphur, Stone, Clays. 
Mining, 105. 
Mink, 80. 
Minneapolis, 43. 
Minnesota, 41, 71, 99, 125. 
Mississippi, River, 12, 13, 42, 136, 

141. 
Mississippi, Valley, 41, 102, 131, 139, 

140. 
Missouri, 45, 119. 
Mocha coffee, 59, 246. 
Molasses, 54, 63, 259, 278. 
Mollendo, 273. 
Molokai, 150. 
Money, 34-36. 
Mongol races, 19. 
Mongolia, 288. 
Monkey-skins, 80. 
Monopolies, government, 65. 

Austria-Hungary, 215. 

France, 187. 

India, 292. 
Mons, 196. 
Monsoons, 15. 
Mont Cenis, tunnel, 229. 



Montenegro, 243; map, 241. 

Montevideo, 266. 

Montreal, 158, 161-162. 

Morocco, 315. 

Morocco leather, 128, 209. 

Moros, 152. 

Moscow, 222, 224, 225. 

Mother-of-pearl, 249. 

Mountains, 10-11. 

influence on commerce, 11, 202. 

map of range, 11. 
Mulberry, 91, 92, 232. 
Mule paths, 268, 270, 272, 315. 
Mules, 26, 188, 215, 232, 237, 244, 

254-255. 
Murghab, river, 299. 
Muskegon, Mich., 102. 
Muskrat, 80. 
Mutton: 

Argentina, 71, 263. 

Australia, 304-306. 

Great Britain, 168. 

New Zealand, 309. 

United States, 71. 

Nagasaki, 281. 

Naguabo, 147. 

Namur, 196. 

Nancy, 190. 

Naples, 229, 233-234. 

Narragansett Bay, 125. 

Nassau, 278. 

Nebraska, 45. 

Negros, 154. 

Netherlands, The, 198-201. 

cattle-raising, 198. 

cheese, 198, 201. 

colonies, 198. See also Java, Su- 
matra, Banka, Billiton, Guiana, 
West Indies, etc. 

foreign commerce, 201. 

lack of minerals, 200. 

manufactures, 200. 

maps, 194, 195. 

statistics, 330. 

transportation, 199-200. 
Neva, 225. 

New Amsterdam, 259. 
New Brunswick, 159, 160. 
New Caledonia, 310. 
New England, 77, 86-87, 89, 125, 

127 139. 
New Jersey, 89, 92. 
New Margelan, 299. 
New Orleans, 131, 132, 136, 139, 141. 
New South Wales, 303, 304, 306, 307. 
New York City, 109, 118, 122, 127, 

137, 138-139, 200. 
New York, State, 62, 89, 92, 102, 

108, 125. 
New Zealand, 308-310; map, 308. 



INDEX 



345 



New Zealand, commerce, 309-310. 

rabbits, 80. 

sheep and wool, 309. 

wheat. 309. 
New Zealand flax, 95, 309. 
Newcastle, England. 165, 169. 
Newcastle, New South Wales, 305. 
Newfoundland, 74, 79, 162. 
Nicaragua, 254-256; map, 253; sta- 
tistics, 330. 
Nickel, 161, 310. 
Niger, river, 316. 
Nile, 12, 13, 312, 313. 
Nile delta, 84, 312. 
Nitrate, 272, 273-274. 
Nizhni-Novgorod, 33, 80, 225. 
Normandv. 183. 
North Island, 309, 310. 
North Sea, 189, 193, 199, 205, 200, 

214, 240. 
Northern coal-field, 108. 
Norway, 202-206. 

fisheries, 204. 

lumber, 101-102, 202-204. 

map, 203. 

merchant marine, 205. 
Nottingham, 169. 
Nova Scotia, 74, 158, 161. 
Nutmeg, 59. 
Nutria, 80. 
Nuts, their importance as food, 57. 

Oak, 96, 101. 

Oats, 46-47; diagram of world pro- 
duction, 47. 

Austria-Hungary, 46. 

Canada, 158. 

Denmark, 206. 

France, 186. 

New Zealand, 309. 

Rumania, 240. 

Russia, 221. 

Sweden, 202. 

United Kingdom, 166, 167. 

United States, 46. 
Ob River, 296, 297. 
Oceania, 310-311. 
Oceans, 13-14; map. Fig. 1. 
Odense, 207. 
Oder, river, 175, 179. 
Odessa, 226, 244. 
Ohio, 45, 62, 64, 114, 120. 
Ohio, river, 136, 140-141. 
Ohio Vallev, 141. 
Oil, birch, 225. 
Oil-cake, 93. 
Oil-seeds, 9.3, 220, 314. 
Oleomargarine, 73, 201, 
Oldham, 171. 
Olive-oil : 

Italy, 2.32. 



Olive-oil, Spain, 237, 238. 

Tunis, 315. 
Olive-tree, 56. 

Olives, 188, 213, 237, 244, 314. 
Omaha, 131, 141. 
Onions, 55, 279, 312. 
Ontario, 156, 158, 160, 161. 
Ontario, Lake, 134, 140. 
Opium, 65, 246, 288, 292, 295, 

298. 
Oporto, 239. 

Oranges, 56, 232, 237, 247, 267. 
Oruro, 273. 
Osage orange, 91. 
Osaka, 281. 
Ostrich feathers, 80-81, 313, 318- 

319, 321,325 
Ottawa, 160. 
Oysters: 

France, 189. 

Netherlands, 199. 

United States, 77-78. 
Ox, 26, 27, 319. ^ 
Ox-trains in Africa, 319. 

Pacific coast coal-field, 108. 
Pacific Ocean, 13. 
Pago-Pago, 152. 
Paisley, 170. 
Palermo, 229, 234. 
Palestine, 245-246. 
Palm-oil, 316. 
Pampas, 66, 263, 265. 
Panama, 270. 
Panama Canal, 13, 31. 
Panama, Isthmus of, 268. 
Paper, 95. 

value of product in United States, 
328. 
Para, 260, 262. 
Para rubber, 262. 
Paraguay, 267; map. 264. 

statistics, 330. 

yerba mate, 62. 
Paraguay tea, 62. 
Paramaribo, 259. 
Paris, 122, 191, 192, 200, 210. 
Parmesan cheese, 72. 
Patagonia, 263. 
Paterson, N. J., 92, 93. 
Patna, 292. 
Patras, 244. 
Peanuts, 57, 316. 
Pearls, 249. 
Pears, 55, 188, 209. 
Peas, 55, 70. 
Pemba Island, 59. 
Pennsvlvania, 89, 93, 108, 109, 114, 

120. 
Pepper, 57. 

map showing distribution of, 44. 



346 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Pernambuco, 260. 
Persia, 298-300. 

rivalry for its trade, 300. 

rugs and carpets, 298. 

statistics, 330. 

turquoise-mines, 122, 298. 
Persian Gulf, 249, 298. 
Perth, 305. 
Peru, 271-272; map, 269. 

coca, 271. 

cotton, 84, 271. 

quinin, 104, 271. 

statistics, 329, 330. 
Peruvian bark, 104. 
Petroleum, 119-121; map showing 
distribution of. 111. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Rumania, 242. 

Russia, 120, 121, 297-298. 
United States, 120-121; map show- 
ing areas of production in, 
119. 
Philadelphia, 90, 126, 127, 128, 129, 

137, 138, 139. 
Philippine Islands, 152-155. 

agriculture, 154-155. 

commerce, 155. 

development in, 323. 

map, 153. 
Phormium, 95, 309, 310. 
Pickerel, 77. 
Piedmont, 233. 
Pilsen, 217. 
Pimento, 59. 
Pine, 96, 98, 99, 101, 160, 202. See 

also Lumber. 
Pineapples, 56, 151, 267. 
Piombino, 229. 
Piraeus, 244. 

Pittsburg, 114, 136, 141. 
Placer mining, 117. 
Plains, advantages of, 10. 
Plateaus, 10, 247. 
Platinum, 224. 
Playa, 146, 147. 
Plymouth, 165. 
Po, river, 228, 230. 
Polders, 198. 
Poltava, 225. 
Pompey, 24. 
Ponce, 147. 
Pontine marshes, 230. 
Poplar, 95, 96. 
Population, 144. 

influence of density on manufac- 
tures and commerce, 124. 
Porcelain : 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Belgium, 197. 

China, 286. 

France, 192. 



Porcelain ; 

Japan, 282. 

Spain, 238. 
Pork, 70-71. 

Canada, 70, 158. 

Germany, 179. 

map showing packing centers in 
United States, 70. 

Servia, 242. 
Port Chalmers, 309. 
Port Elizabeth, 317. 
Port wine, 239. 
Porters in Africa, 27-28, 316. 
Portland, Me., 162. 
Portland, Ore., 42, 138, 140. 
Porto Alegre, 260. 
Porto Empedocle, 229. 
PortoRico, 146-149; map, 147. 

agriculture, 147-148. 

density of population, 146. 

hats, 149. 

imports of food and manufactures, 
and manufactured goods, 149. 

statistics, 330. 
Portugal, 238-239. 

colonies. See Portuguese East 
Africa, Canaries, etc. 

cork, 104, 239. 

map, 236. 
Portugal, statistics, 330. ] 

wine, 238-239. 
Portuguese East Africa, 318. 
Posts, 33. 
Potato, 55. 

Austria- Hungary, 214. 

Belgium, 196. 

Bermuda, 279. 

Germany, 55, 177. 

Great Britain, 166. 

Russia, 221. 

use in distilling alcoholic spirits, 
63, 177, 221. 
Poultry, 73-74. 

imports into United Kingdom, 73- 
74, 158, 168. 
Prague, 214. 
Precious stones, 122. 
Preston, 171. 
Pribilof Islands, 80. 
Progreso, 251. 
Puerto Barrios, 254. 
Puerto Cabello, 257. 
Puerto Cortez, 254. 
Puerto Limon, 255. 
Puget Sound ports, 138, 140. 
Pulque, 248. 
Punjab, 290. 
Puno, 273. 
Punta Arenas, 255. 

Quartz-mining, 117. 



INDEX 



347 



Quebec, 156, 158, 160. 
Quebec province, 156, 158, 160. 
Queensland, 303, 305, 306. 
Quicktiilver: 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Russia, map showing distribution 
of, 223. 

Spain, 238. 
Quinin, 104, 271, 302. 
Quito, 6. 

Rabbits, 80, 168. 

Races, classification of, 17-20. 

influence of environment on, 18. 

map showing distribution of, 18. 
Railroads, 31-32; diagram showing 
growth of, 32; map showing 
most important and projected, 
Fig. 1. 

United States, 131-134; diagram 
showing growth of, 132; map of 
chief lines and Time Zones, 133. 
Raisins, 56. 
Ramie, 95. 
Rangoon, 296. 
Red Sea, 246. 
Redwood, 99, 101. 

Refrigeration, its importance in ex- 
tending trade, 66-67, 68-69, 75, 
263. 
Reindeer, 26. 
Resins, 102-103, 204. 
Reunion, 53. 

Rhine, river, 12, 175, 200, 201. 
Rhine, valley, 178. 
Rhode Island, 95, 146. 
Rhone river, 183, 191, 210. 
Rice, 48-50; map showing distribu- 
tion of, 49. 

Burma, 291. 

Central America, 256. 

China, 283. 

Egypt, 312. 

French Indo-China, 301. 

Guam, 152. 

Guinas, 259. 

Hawaiian Islands, 151. 

Italy, 231. 

Japan, 280. 

Java, 50. 

Philippine Islands, 154-155. 

Rumania, 240. 

Spain, 237. 

United States, 50. 
Richmond basin, 108. 
Richmond, Va., 126. 
Right whale, 7.9. 
Rio de Janeiro, 259, 260, 261. 
Rio de la Plata countries, 319. 
Rio Grande, 147. 
Rio Negro, 262. 



Rivers, 11-12; map of navigable. 
Fig. 1. 

United States, 136-137. 
Roadsteads, 9. 
Rochdale, 171. 
Rochester, 127. 

Rocky Mountain coal-field, 108. 
Romanic races, 19. 
Rome, 24, 228, 229. 
Root crops, 53, 167, 177, 206. 
Roquefort cheese, 72. 
Rosario, 265. 
Rosewood, 102. 
Rotterdam, 201. 
Rouen, 191. 
Rubber shoes, 103. 
Rubies, 122. 
Ruhr coal-field, 179. 
Ruhr, river, 178, 179. 
Rum, 63, 259. 
Rumania, 240-242. 

maize and wheat, 240. 

map, 241. 

prosperity of, 246. 

statistics, 330. 
Russia, 219-227. 

agriculture, 219-221; map show- 
ing distribution of, 220. 

animal raising, 70, 80, 222. 

Black-earth region, 219. 

fairs, 225. 

foreign commerce, 226-227. 

forest industries, 96, 101, 103. 

furs, 79, 80, 222. 

home industries, 224, 225. 

interior navigation, 225; map, 223 

manufactures, 224-225. 

minerals, 107, 116, 120, 121, 222- 
224, 297; map, 223. 

statistics, 330. 

tea consumption, 60, 61, 226. 
Russian Central Asia, 298, 299; map, 

299. 
Rye, 47; diagram of world produc- 
tion, 47. 

Canada, 158. 

Germany, 177. 

Netherlands, 199. 

Rumania, 240. 

Russia, 221. 

Spain, 237. 

Sweden and Norway, 202. 

Switzerland, 209. 

use in whisky distilling, 47, 63. 

Saar, river, 178. 
Saginaw, 102. 
Sago-palm, 56. 

map showing distribution of, 49. 
Sahara, 7, 315-316. 
Saint Anthony Falls, 43. 



348 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Saint Etienne, 190. 

Saint Gallen, 211. 

Saint Gotthard, tunnel, 210, 229. 

Saint Johns, 162. 

Saint Lawrence, Gulf of, 79, 161, 162. 

Saint Lawrence, river, 13, 75, 134, 
161. 

Saint Louis, 101, 127, 132, 140-141. 

Saint Mary's river, 134. 

Saint Paul, 131, 141. 

Saint Petersburg, 169, 222, 225, 226. 

Salmon, 74. 
Canada, 159. 
Norway, 204. 
United States, 74-75. 

Salonica, 242. 

Salt, 122, 170, 180, 190-191, 210, 
242. 
mines in Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Salvador, 254-256; map, 253. 
balsam of Peru, 254. 

Samarkand, 299. 

San Bias, 251. 

San Diego, 140. 

San Francisco, 79, 126, 129, 131, 
138, 139-140. 

San German, 147. 

San Jose, 254. 

San Juan, 146, 147. 

San Juan, river, 253. 

San Luis dApra, 152. 

Sandstone, 121, 

Santiago, Chile, 272. 

Santiago, Cuba, 277, 278, 

Santo Domingo, 275, 278. 

Santos, 259, 260. 

Sao Paulo, 261. 

Sardinia, 233. 

Sardines, 189; map showing distribu- 
tion of fisheries, 76. 

Sarsaparilla, 51. 

Savannah, 84. 

Savannas, map showing distribution 
of, 97. 

Save, river, 217. 

Saxony, 178, 179, 

Scandinavia. See Sweden, Norway, 
and Denmark. 

Schelde, river, 193, 196, 200. 

Schuylkill river, 108. 

Schweizerkase, 72. 

Scotland. See United Kingdom. 

Scottish Highlands, 166. 

Sea-island cotton, 84. 

Seals, 79, 80, 162. 

Sealskin, 79. 

Seattle, 131. 

Sedge, 51. 

Seed oils, 93. 

Seine, river, 183. 

Servia, 242-243; map, 241. 



Seville, 237. 

Sewing silk, 92. 

Shad, 75. 

Shanghai, 282, 284, 288, 300. 

Sheep, 66, 87. 

Argentine, 263. 

Australia, 303-304; map showing 
grazing lands, 304. 

Canada, 158. 

Europe, 168, 179, 196, 198, 202, 
206, 207, 222, 232-233, 237, 244. 

India, 293. 

Mexico, 249. 

New Zealand, 309. ^ 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

South Africa, 319. 

United States, 71. 

Uruguay, 266. 
Sheffield, 165, 169, 172. 
Sherry wine, 237. 
Shipbuilding: 

Germany, 180. 

Great Britain, 169, 172. 

Italy, 233. 

Russia, 225. 

United States, 30, 129. 
Shoe and boot industry, 127, 191, 
309, 

value of production in United 
States, 328. 
Siam : 

rice, 50, 301. 

statistics, 330. 

teak wood, 96, 301. 
Siberia, 296-297; map, 296. 

furs, 79-80, 296. 

minerals, 297. 

Trans-Siberian railroad, 226, 297. 
Sicily, 121, 229, 233. 
Silesia, 178. 

Silesia, Upper, 179, 180. 
Silk, 90-92; diagram of world pro- 
duction, 91. 

China, 91, 284, 287. 

Greece, 244. 

imports into France, 191. 

imports into United States, 92. 

Italy, 91, 232, 233. 

Japan, 91, 281-282, 283; map 
showing centers of culture, 281. 

Persia, 298. 

Russian Central Asia, 299. 

Turkey, 245. 
Silk manufactures: 

China, 92, 284, 287. 

France, 92, 93, 191. 

Germany, 92, 93, 181. 

Great Britain, 171. 

Italy, 233-234. 

Japan, 92, 282. 

Russia, 225. 



INDEX 



349 



silk manufactures: 

Servia. 242. 

Spain, 325. 

Switzerland, 92, 93, 211. 

Turkey, 245. 

United States, 92-93; value, 328. 
Silkworm. 91-92, 233, 281. 
Silver, 117; map showing distribu- 
tion of, 106. 

Australia, 307. 

Austria-Hungary, 217. 

Bolivia. 273. 

Canada. 161. 

Chile, 274. 

Honduras, 256. 

Mexico, 117, 249-250; map show- 
ing mining centers, 249. 

Peru, 271. 

Russia, 297; map showing distri- 
bution of, 223. 

Salvador, 256. 

Sweden and Norway, 204. 

United States, 117. 
Simplon tunnel, 210, 228. 
Singapore. 57, 155, 300, 301. 
Sisal hemp, 94, 247-248. 
Slate, 121. 
Smyrna, 245, 246. 
Soo Canal, with map, 134, 136. 
South Africa, 317-321. 

agriculture. 318. 

diamonds, 122, 319. 

ostrich culture, 318-319. 

map, 317. 

wool industry, 87, 98. 319. 
South Chicago, 114. 
South Island, 309. 
South Pass, 12. 
South "Wales coal-field, with map, 

169. 
Southampton. 165. 
Southern States, 101, 102, 125, 132. 
Spain, 235-238. 

commerce, 238. 

cork, 104. 237. 

esparto, 94-95. 

fruits, 237. 

minerals. 119, 237-238; map show- 
ing mining regions, 236. 

statistics. 330. 

wine industry, 62, 237; centers of 
trade in, 236. 
Sparrow Point, Md., 129. 
Sperm whale. 79. 
Spermaceti. 79. 

Spices, 36. 57-59, 300-301, 302. 
Spinning-mule, 20. 
Spirits, 63, 177, 221. 
Spirits of turpentine, 102-103. 
Sponges, 79, 244, 278. 
Spruce, 95, 99, 101, 160, 202. 



Squirrel, 79-80. 

Staffordshire coal-field, with map, 

169. 
Stag, 222. 
Steel, 115. 

Germany, 172, 179. 

Great Britain, 115, 170, 172. 

Russia, 224. 

Sweden and Norway, 204-205. 

United States, 115-116, 172. 
Steel manufactures: 

Belgium, 196. 

France, 190. 

Germany, 180. 

Great Britain, 171-172. 

Italy, 233. 

Russia, 225. 

Sweden and Norway, 204-205. 

Switzerland, 211. 

United States, 127, 128-129. 
Steppes, 219, 220. 
Stettin, 175. 
Stockholm, 203, 205. 
Stockport, 171. 
Straits Settlements, 300-301. 
Sudan, 81, 313. 
Sudbury district, 161. 
Suez Canal, 14, 30-31, 60, 136, 229, 

290, 305, 313. 
Sugar, 51-54. 

countries consuming most, 52, 54, 
275. 
Sugar-beet, 53; map showing distri- 
bution of culture, 44; diagram 
of beet-sugar production, 53. 

Austria-Hungary, 53, 214, 218. 

Belgium, 196, 197. 

Denmark, 207. 

France, 187-188. 

Germany, 177, 178. 

Russia, 53, 221. 

Sweden and Norway, 202. 

The Netherlands, 199. 

United States, 53. 
Sugar-cane, 53; map showing distri- 
bution of culture, 44; diagram 
of cane-sugar production, 52. 

Australia, 306. 

Barbados, 278. 

Central America, 256. 

Cuba, 53, 150, 275. 

Danish West Indies, 207. 

Fiji Islands, 310. 

Hawaiian Islands, 150-151. 

Java, 53, 150, 198, 302. 

Mauritius, 53. 

Mexico, 250. 

Philippine Islands, 154, 155. 

Porto Rico, 148. 

Reunion, 53. 

Santo Domingo, 278. 



350 



ELEMENTARY COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 



Sugar-cane: 

South America, 258, 259, 261 , 262, 
271, 274. 

United States, 53. 
Sulphur, 121, 233; map showing dis- 
tribution of. 111. 
Sulphuric acid, 121, 172. 
Sulu Archipelago, 249. 
Sumatra, 301. 

coffee, 59. 

gutta-percha, 104. 

tobacco, 64, 198, 201, 302. 
Superior, Lake, 112, 113, 114, 118, 

134, 140, 161. 
Superior, Lake, iron district, 113. 
Sweden and Norway, 202-206. 

butter-making, 202. 

fisheries, 204. 

foreign commerce, 205-206. 

forests and lumber, 101-102, 202- 
204. 

iron, 116, 179, 204; map showing 
mines, 203. 

manufactures, 204-205. 

statistics, 330. 
Swine, 70-71, 179, 222, 242, 261. 
Switzerland, 208-212. 

cheese-making, 72, 209. 

excellence of silk manufactures, 93. 

foreign commerce, 212. 

home industry, 211. 

manufactures, 210, 211. 

map showing distribution of indus- 
tries and agriculture, 209. 

railroad system, with map, 210. 

statistics, 330. 

tourists, 212. 

water-power, 210-211, 212. 
Sydney, 304, 305, 306, 307. 
Syria, 245-246. 

Tacoma, 131. 
Tagals, 153. 
Tallow, 66, 67, 222. 
Tampico, 251. 
Tangier, 315. 
Tannin, 101. 
Tanning stuffs, 127-128. 
Tapioca, 56-57. 
Tar, 103. 
Tashkent, 299. 
Tasmania, 307. 

Tea, 60-62; map showing distribu- 
tion of, 58; diagram of produc- 
tion, 60. 

China, 284, 288. 

consumption in Russia, 60, 61. 

imports into United States, 144. 

India and Ceylon, 284, 292, 296. 

Japan, 280. 

Java, 302. 



Teak- wood, 96, 301. 
Telegraphs, 32-33. 
Telephones, 33. 
Tell, 315. 

Texas, 50, 101, 120. 
Thames, 12, 164, 165. 
Theiss, river, 217. 
Thessaly, 244. 
Tiber, 228. 
Tibet, 288. 

Tides, their importance in • com- 
merce, 14. 
Tilbury, with map of docks, 165. 
Timber, 98, 101-102, 222, 248, 254, 
266, 267, 306. See also Lum- 
ber. 
Tin, 118; map showing distribution 
of, 111. 

Australia, 307. 

Banka and Billiton, 302. 

Bolivia, 272. 

England, 170. 

Straits Settlements, 300. 
Tin-plate industry, 118. 
Tobacco. 63-65; map showing dis- 
tribution of, 39. 

Africa, 314, 315, 318. 

Austria-Hungary, 215. 

Balkan States, 64, 187, 240, 243, 
244, 312. 

Central and South America, 256f 
258, 263, 267, 268, 271, 274. 

Cuba, 64, 275-276. 

Government monopolies on, 65,. 
187, 215. 

Mexico, 247. 

Other West Indies, 148, 274, 276, 
278. 

Russia, 221. 

Sumatra, 198, 201, 302. 

The Netherlands, 199, 200. 

The Philippines, 154, 165. 

United States, 63, 64; map, 65. 
Tokay wine, 215. 
Tokio, 132, 281, 282. 
Toledo, 140. 
Tonkin, 301. 
Topography, effect on commerce of,, 

7-14. 
Toronto, 162. 

Towns, some causes determining lo- 
cation of, 140-141. 
Trade winds, 14-15. 

map showing directions of, 15. 
Train-oil, 79. 

Trans-Siberian railway, 226, 297. 
Transit trade, 200. 

Denmark, 207. 

France, 183-185, 201, 212. 

Germany, 176, 212. 

Hongkong, 288. 



INDEX 



351 



Transit trade: 
Italv, 212, 228. 
The Netherlands, 200-201. 
Transportation, 22-23, 25-33. 
draft animals, 25-28. 
importance of cheap, G7-GS, 98, 

130-131, 175, 180, 181. 
its importiin^e in labor-saving, 22- 

23, 42. 
map showing highways of the 

world, Fig. 1. 
railroads, 31-32; diagram show- 
ing growth of, 32; map show- 
ing most important and pro- 
jected, Fig. 1. 
United States, 130-141. 
waterways and navigation, 28- 
31; view of ocean steamship, 
29. 
Transvaal, 319. 
Trenton, N. J., 122, 126. 
Triassic coal-field, 108. 
Trieste, 214. 
Trinidad, 278-279. 
Tripoli, 313-314. 
Trondhjem, 203. 
Tropical Africa, 315-317. 
Trout, 77, 159. 
Trujillo, 254. 
Tula, 225. 
Tundra, 220. 
Tunis, 314-315. 
Turin, 228, 229. 

Turkestan, Chinese (Eastern Tur- 
kestan), 288. 
Turkestan, Russian, 298, 299; map, 

299. 
Turkey, European, 245. 
map, 241. 
statistics, 330. 
tob::cco, 64, 187. 
Turkey, Asiatic, 245-246. 

map, 241. 
Turquoise, 122. 
Turpentine, 102-103, 204. 
Tutuila, 152. 

United Kingdom, 163-173. 

agriculture, 166, 167. 

beer brewing, 63. 

coal, 107, 108-109, 169-170; map 
showing coal-fields, 167. 

colonies. See Canada, Australia, 
India, Ceylon, New Zealand, 
Straits Settlements, South Af- 
rica, etc. 

commerce, 172-173. 

cotton manufactures, 86, 87, 170- 
171. 

domestic animals, 168. 

fisheries, 77, 168-169. 



I nited Kingdom, imports of foo^l 

supplies and timber, 166-1()7, 

16S, 173. 
imports of raw cotton, 85-86, 16S. 
iron and tin, 170. 
manufacture of furs, 80. 
map showing distribution of lead- 
ing products, 1()4. 
metal and other industries, 171- 

172. 
population, 163. 
ports and shipping, 163-165; map, 

164. 
railroads, map of, 164. 
statistics, 330. 
woolen manufactures and other 

textiles, 90, 93, 171. 
United States, 37-145. 

climate, 37-38; map showing dis- 
tribution of rain, 37. 
population, map showing density 

of, 124. 
Agricultural industries: 

apples, 56. 

as an agricultural nation, 37-38, 
40. 

beer, 63. 

maize, 45-46. 

oats and other cereals, 46-50. 

peach canning, 125. 

sugar-beet, 53. 

sugar, coffee, and tea imports, 
52, 59, 61. 

tobacco, 63, 64; map showing 
distribution of, 65. 

wheat and flour, 41-43, 324; 
map of shipping ports and 
centers of flour industry, 41. 

wine production, 62. 
Animal industries: 

dairying, 71-72. 

exports of horses, 80. 

fisheries, 74-79; map, 75. 

furs, 80. 

meat industry, 67, 71; map 
showing packing centers, 67. 

poultry and eggs, 73. 
Colonies. See Hawaiian Islands, 

Porto Rico, Philippine Islands, 

Guam, Tutuila. 
Fiber industries: 

cotton culture and manufac- 
tures, 83-84, 86-87. 

imports of linens, 93. 

paper, 95. 

silk manufactures, 92-93. 

wool and woolen manufacture, 
87, 88, 89, 90. 
Foreign commerce, 142-144. 
Forest industries: 

consumption of quinin, 104. 



352 



ELE.MENTAKY COMMEIX lAL GEOGRAPHY 



United States: 

forests and their protection, 96, 

98. 
furniture making, 102. 
gums and resins, 102-103. 
lumber, 98-101; map showing 

centers of industry, 99. 
rubber manufactures, 103. 
Manufactures, 123, 126-129. 

distribution of, 124-125. 
Mineral industries: 

coal, 107, 109; map showing 

coalfields, 108, 
clay and potteries, 121-122. 
coke, 112. 
copper, 117-118. 
imports of precious stones, 122. 
iron and steel and manufactures 
in them, 112-116, 127, 128-129. 
petroleum and kerosene, 120- 
121 ; map showing areas of 
production, 119. 
precious metals, 116-117. 
tin-plate industry, 118. 
Miscellaneous manufactures: 
boots and shoes, 127. 
leather making, 127-128. 
machinery, 128. 
ready-made clothing, 129. 
Statistics, 300. 
Transportation : 

cheap freight rates, 130-131. 
coasting and deep-sea trade, 

138. 
internal navigation, 130, 134- 

137; map, 135. 
port, sea, lake and river,138-141. 
railroads, 131-134; diagram 
showing growth of, 132; map 
of chief lines and time zones, 
133. 
Upland cotton, 84, 85. 
Ural Mountains, 122. 
Uruguay, 266; map, 264; statistics, 

330. 
Uruguay, river, 266. 
Utrecht, 199. 

Valdivia, 272. 

Valencia, 257. 

Valparaiso, 273-274. 

Valleys, their great importance, 13. 

Valley of Roses, 243. 

Vancouver, 162. 

Vanilla, 247, 317. 

Vegetable products, utilization of, 
51-65; maps showing distribu- 
tion of, 39, 44, 49, 58. 

Vegetal)les, 54-55, 196, 199, 314. 

Vegetation, map showing distribu- 
tion of, 97. 



Venetia, 233. 
Venetian glass, 234. 
Venezuela, 257-259. 

cattle, 327. 

coffee, 257-258. 

map, 258. 
Venice, 229. 
Vera Cruz, 251. 
Vermont marble, 121. 
Verviers, 196, 197. 
Victoria, Australia, 303, 304, 305. 
Victoria, B. C, 162. 
Victoria, Hongkong, 288 
Vienna, 214, 216, 217, 242. 
Virginia, 64, 101, 108. 
Visayas, 153. 
Vistula, river, 175, 214. 
Vladivostok, 297. 
Volga, 225, 298, 299. 
Vuelta Abajo, 275. 

Waikato, river, 95, 309. 
Walnuts, 57, 96, 101. 
Warsaw, 214, 222, 225. 
Watches in Switzerland, 211. 
Water-power, 10. 

Italy, 233. 

Switzerland, 210, 211, 212. 

United States, 125-126. 
Waterways and navigation, 28-31. 

United States. 134-141; map 
showing interior navigation, 135. 
Wax-tree, 286. 

Weights and measures, 33-34. 
Welland Canal, 140. 
Wellington, 310. 
Weser, river, 175, 176. 
West Indies, 274-279. 

destructive hurricanes, 275. 
West Indies. British, 278-279. 
Western coal-field, 108. 
Westphalian hams, 179. 
Whalebone, 79. 
Whales, 79. 

Wheat, 40-43; map showing distri- 
bution of, 39 ; diagram of world 
production, 40. 

Africa, 312, 314. 

Argentina and rest of South Amer- 
ica, 261, 265, 266, 268, 272, 274. 

Asia, 280, 283, 291, 297, 298, 299. 

Australia and New Zealand, 303, 
306, 308, 309. 

Austria-Hungary, 214. 

Canada, 157-158. 

Mexico, 247. 

Other European countries, 166, 
167, 177, 186, 195, 202, 208-209, 
232, 237, 240, 242, 243. 

Russia, 221. 

United States, 41-42, 324. 



INDEX 



353 



"Wheat flour, 43. 

Other countries. 1.%, 242, 266, 270, 

291, ;iOs. 
United States, 43. 
Whisky. 63. 
AVhitefish. 77, 159. 
Wiehczka-Boohnia. 217. 
Winds, map showinji prevailing, 15. 
effect on climate. 7. 
effect on navigation, 14-15. 
Wind-power. 200, 293. 
AVine. 62-63; diagram of world pro- 
duction, 188; map showing dis- 
tribution of industry, 58. 
Africa. 314, 315. 318. 321. 
Austria-Hungary, 215. 
France, 188. 
Italy. 62, 232. 
Other European countries, 178, 

209. 221, 240, 243, 244. 
Spain, 237. 
United States, 62. 
Winterthur, 211. 
Wisconsin, 99. 
Witch-hazel, 51. 
Witwatersrand, 319. 
Wood-pulp, 95, 160, 161, 205. 
Wool, 87-89; diagram of world pro- 
duction, 8n. 
Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, 

88, 262. 263, 266. 
Australasia, 87, 303-304, 309, 

310. 
Europe, 87-88, 168, 179, 196, 198, 
202, 207, 222, 232-233, 237. 



Wool: 

India, 293. 

Mexico, 249. 

Mongolia, 288. 

South Africa, 89, 179, 319, 320. 
Woolen manufactures: 

France, 191. 

Germany, 182. 

Great Britain, 171. 

Other countries, 197, 205, 211, 216, 
222, 225, 233, 234, 243, 249, 250, 
293. 

United States, 89-90. 

World War, 322. 

Yak, 26, 27. 

Yams, 261, 316. 

Yangtse, river, 13, 287, 288. 

Yangtse Valley, 284. 

Yarra, river, 305. 

Yenisei, river, 297. 

Yerba-mate, 62, 267; map showing 

distribution of, 58. 
Yezo, 282. 

Yokohama, 155, 281. 
Yorkshire, 171. 
Yorkshire-Derbyshire coal-field, with 

map, 169. 
Yucatan, 94, 248. 

Zanzibar, 59. 

Zerafshan river, 299. 

Zinc, 118-119, 180, 196, 197, 204, 

244. 
Zurich, 93, 210-211. 



(24; 



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